What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of modifying your website and its content to promote its ranking and visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). This result can be achieved through a combination of ranking factors such as on-page, off-page, and technical SEO techniques.
On-page SEO focuses on what we mainly see on the website. This includes the contents, Uniform Resource Locators or URL structure, title tags, meta description, images, internal linking, and headline tags. Off-page SEO concentrates on external factors that significantly impact the website’s performance. Some off-page elements are link building, guest posting, keyword strategy or keyword research, and web analytics.
Importance of SEO in Web Design
When developing a website, it is essential to consider the importance of SEO from a content perspective and a technical standpoint. An SEO audit can identify areas where a website can be optimised for better performance, including page speed, responsiveness for mobile versions, and site structure. By addressing these technical issues, a website can provide a better user experience and achieve higher rankings in search results.
Another important aspect of SEO in web design is that it provides a competitive edge. An estimated 1.13 billion websites are competing for attention online, and SEO can help you stand out by achieving higher rankings in search results.
Including SEO in web design can help increase the rate of engagement on your website. A well-designed website will have a solid structure and relevant content to engage and retain customers who land on your website. Moreover, high engagement rates improve the authority and trust of your website, which can only happen with a strong SEO strategy.
Key Principles for Integrating SEO in Website Design
SEO aims to increase visibility and drive traffic to the website, ultimately improving the website’s performance experience. To achieve this, some key principles must be considered when integrating SEO into website design:
Research the Target Keywords
Keyword research is the foundation of SEO. Keywords are the words or phrases users input into search engines to find their needed information. It’s the instrument that users use to express their search intent, making it a critical component of successful SEO strategies.
For example, if you’re an online pet store, you should include relevant keywords like “cat,” “dog,” and “pet supplies” in your content because people searching for those terms have expressed a strong interest in buying products related to cats, dogs, and pet supplies.
Publish Quality Content
Optimise Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Meta descriptions and title tags are the first things users see in search engine results. In creating meta descriptions, make sure that the first sentence can describe your content and include your targeted keywords.
For instance, if you are making an article about how to create a website for free with WordPress, then your meta description should be something like this: “Learn how you can create an amazing website for free with WordPress!”
Use Header Tags Properly
H1, H2, H3, and other header tags promote hierarchy within content and indicate its importance to search engines. The H1 tag is used for the page title, while subheadings used H2, H3, …, Hn. Using the header tags helps search engines understand your content structure and makes it easier for users to read.
Using this article as an example, you can see that every subtopic has corresponding tags that can be used to skip other sections if it has a proper internal link.
<H1> Integrating SEO in Website Design: 6 Key Principles
<H2> What is SEO?
<H2> Importance of SEO in Web Design
<H2> Key Principles for Integrating SEO in Website Design
<H3> Research the Target Keywords
<H3> Publish Quality Content
Make Sure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
With the majority of online queries now done through mobile searches, your website must be optimised for mobile viewing. This means that the design should be responsive and adjusted to fit different screen sizes of mobile users. Mobile-friendly websites also tend to rank higher in search results, as handheld devices generated almost 59% of global website traffic in 2022.
Use Internal Linking
Internal linking is the process of linking to other pages within your website. It helps establish website hierarchy and helps search engines understand the most important pages. Internal linking can also help drive traffic to other pages on your website.
Tips for Building an SEO-friendly Website
An SEO-friendly website will help your business attract new leads, drive traffic to your site, and ultimately increase your revenue. Here are some tips for building an SEO-friendly website to help you achieve your business goals.
Regularly Update Your Website’s Content
As part of website maintenance, updating your website's content is essential as it keeps it fresh and relevant for users and search engines. Also, adding new products or blog posts encourages engagement from users.
Optimise Your Website’s Images
Make sure to use alt tags for all of your website's images, including logos, buttons, and decorative images. By providing accurate and descriptive alt tags for your image contents, you can help search engines better understand the relevance of the content to users' search queries.
Use Descriptive URLs
Uniform Resource Locator is the web address that takes users to a specific page on your site. By using descriptive, user-friendly URLs that include relevant keywords, you can improve the chances of your site ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs)
Avoid Duplicate Content on Your Website
Each page on your website should have unique content that is suitable to that specific page. If you really need to duplicate content, you need to use canonical tags. These tell search engines which version of a page is the original content allowing it to be treated as the primary piece of content. By doing this, you're telling search engines that even though two pages share similar content, you want the original version to be indexed and ranked in search results.
Monitor Your Website Using Search Consoles
Google Search Console is a tool that helps website owners monitor their website's performance in search engine results and identify any errors or issues that may be affecting their website's visibility. It can provide data on errors such as crawl errors, broken links, and missing pages.
Take Advantage of Long-Tailed Keywords
Long-tailed keywords help narrow broad keyword searches and bring more qualified traffic to your website. Long-tail keywords are much more specific and have a lower search volume, making it easier for users to find the needed information. For example, instead of "women's shoes," a long-tailed keyword might be "best running shoes for women with flat feet."
Build an SEO-friendly Website With Butterfly
Integrating SEO principles into your website design optimises your website for user experience and search engines. By doing so, you can drive more traffic and conversions to your website.
As a leading website design agency in Melbourne, Australia, Butterfly is committed to helping businesses establish a strong online presence through effective website design and SEO strategies.
Website Design SEO FAQs
What is basic SEO for websites?
Basic SEO for websites involves a combination of on-page and off-page optimisation strategies. Optimise your website for mobile devices, conduct keyword research, create high-quality content, improve page load speed, and employ link-building techniques to maximise your website’s SEO potential.
Does website design help SEO?
A well-designed website creates an optimum user experience, leading to longer on-site durations, lower bounce rates, and improved rankings. Investing in a good design plan that focuses on user experience, responsive designs, mobile optimisation, and site speed are key to optimising your website.
Can I do SEO on my own?
SEO is an ongoing process, and you’ll need to monitor your progress to ensure your efforts are paying off. Doing SEO on your own is possible, but it requires time, effort, and dedication. You will need to familiarise yourself with SEO best practices, conduct a website audit, create high-quality content, build backlinks, and monitor your progress.
