Web Design for SEO

The best SEO results come from combining graphical website design and search engine optimization strategies. Integrating web design and SEO gives the best results. So what should be considered in an effective website design?

Plan Before Designing

Web designers should chart out their SEO plan before beginning their design. SEO done as an afterthought is never as effective. Starting with keyword research, choose keyword phrases that have a good amount of search traffic and that reflect what you are offering. Create a detailed keyword plan by page. The right keywords are the foundation for all other SEO strategies. Using these keywords in page names, navigation, linking and headings will dramatically improve the designs effectiveness.

Create Focused Content

The keywords and the website topics need to be focused on a single subject. A website that tries to about shoe repair and computer consulting will not rank well for either subject. Using your keyword plan, create compelling marketing copy. Keep your marketing message clear in text, navigation and graphics.

Balance Graphics and Text

Search engines use the visible body text to determine what a website is about. Generally you will want roughly 500 words of text on an optimized page. The text should be broken up into segments with headings so that a reader can quickly scan a page to find what he wants. Use graphics and colors to create an inviting and easily readable page. If a page is all graphics, it won’t do well with the search engines. If it is just a big block of text, it loses its marketing appeal.

Avoid Intro Pages

An Intro or splash page is a graphic or Flash introduction that is usually without text. The index page or very first page of the website is given the greatest weight by the search engines. Search engines determine what the page topic is about by scanning the body text. Without body text, the search engines will downgrade the importance of the index page and the entire website.

Validate All Code

Producing websites with W3C Validated code helps with browser compatibility, usability and with SEO Results. This is a hotly debated issue on the importance directly to SEO. We have seen faster rankings improvement with valid code over code filled with errors.