While the design of your website can make it more engaging, web design is more than just about aesthetics. It also has to do with how the site is arranged on the technical side. And this structure can have a huge impact on your SEO strategy. If you’re creating a new website from scratch or are working with website design consultants, then it’s important that you’re aware of the most basic SEO Elements design principles. Here are a few of the most important design basics for a winning campaign.
1. Structure
No matter what industry you’re in, your website should have a clear and logical structure. Users should never have to guess about what you offer. Upon entering the homepage, your visitors should know exactly what type of products and services you deliver as well as what they should expect from your subpages. Let’s say that the website is based on your restaurant. In this case, your homepage should be broken down into subpages which lead to sections such as desserts, soups, and dinners.
This makes it easy for your visitors to navigate. They know exactly what to expect. Sure, you could always create deeper level within your subpages, but it’s a good idea to keep them simple as well as Google needs to be able to crawl them easily.
2. Structured URL
Another aspect that Singapore business owners often tend to overlook is their URL. URLs can have a big impact on your SEO. When creating a URL, make sure that it clearly describes what the page is all about. Make sure it’s simple to read. The shorter your URL, the more memorable it is. Avoid using abbreviations and long numbers. If the URL is for one of your subpages, then use hyphens in order to break up the words. For instance, instead of using , try https://example.com/best-singapore-real-estate-agents. Ensure that your keyword is included. However, you should never keyword stuff your URL.
Not only should your website feature a sound structure, it should also be easy for both your visitors and Google to navigate. This means that you should make sure that you don’t have any orphaned pages. Search engines are not able to find these pages because they don’t have any links from other pages.
4. Mobile-friendly
Ready or not, Google has officially changed over to mobile-first indexing which means your rank is determined by the mobile version of your site. This means that a responsive mobile design is a must. It needs to be able to adjust to the needs of the user. No matter what size their screen is, the visitor should always be able to seamlessly navigate your site. Luckily, Google offers a tool that can help your figure out how mobile-friendly your site it.
5. Speed
The speed of your website is another crucial SEO factor. Does your website take some time to lead? If your site loads slowly, then it will suffer in Google’s rankings. Even more important, visitors are less likely to spend time on your site. So if you want to improve your bounce rate, then you need to work in getting rid of elements that slow it down. Keep in mind that the optimal loading time is a few seconds. If you want to know how quickly your site loads, then check Google’s PageSpeed Insights. It can give you tips for speeding up.
6. Meta descriptions, headers, and titles
If you want to make sure that your on-page SEO is on point, then you must pay close attention to your meta descriptions, headers, and titles. Every page on your site is unique which means that each should have its own unique tags. Your titles and headers should include at least one of your keywords.
Think of your meta descriptions as your blurb. This is the information that will appear under your links in the SERPs. They may not affect your SEO directly, but they can entice people to click the link. It’s a lot of like advertising. It needs to contain your keywords and be eye-catching.
7. Image optimisation
When designing your website, it’s very important to remember that you keep in mind that search engines can’t “see” your images. They aren’t like the average user. They don’t know what the image is about, so you need to tell them. In other words, you need to make sure that you optimise your images by describing what is going on them. Use your alt tags as a description. Try to include the most relevant keywords in your tag. Also, make sure that your images are not too large as this is something that can slow down the loading time.
8. Avoid Flash
It can be tempting to liven your website up with a few attention grabbing visuals. However, it’s not good for your overall SEO. Unless it is absolutely necessary, you should avoid using Flash. This is especially the case when it comes to your navigation bar and the main text. This is because the search engines are not able to see or process this type of content.
9. Structured data
If you want to improve your SEO, then consider using structured data. When it comes to the effectiveness of the schema markup, there is a lot of debate going on. Many are not sure just how much of a boost this type of data can give your website in the search engines. However, what is clear is that this type of data can actually increase the quality of your traffic. It provides a lot of valuable information to the users. And this improvement in traffic can eventually lead to an improvement in your rankings.
10. Interface
As you can see, it’s very important to take care of the technical side of SEO. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention to user experience. Sure, a large portion of SEO is dependant on how you take care of all the technical details but ultimately, your website should be able to offer value and helping people.
This means that you need to consider how people view your website. The more easy to use your interface, the easier it will be for them and the longer they will stay. Your visitors should never struggle to find what they need. Yes, the search engine is important, but humans are your customers.
The Takeaway
There are a lot of Singapore business owners who assume that SEO is based solely on content marketing. Sure, this is an important aspect, but there’s much more to it. You see SEO is also about what goes on beneath the service. Primarily, it is concerned with pleasing both the search engines and the visitors.
When designing your website, you should ensure that it has a consistent and clear structure. You should create descriptive and short URLs. The navigation should be seamless. It should be mobile-friendly and load quickly. You should include all of the proper tags, headers, and titles. Your images should be well-optimised and you should avoid Flash at all cost. Also, you should consider using schema markup and work to ensure that your interface is easy and friendly.
