Three web design attributes that affect SEO
Search engine optimisation usually comes after the website has been developed. However, what you may not realise is that SEO needs to be built into the web development process from the very start. In addition to other SEO techniques, the website itself has to be SEO-friendly. Here are three web design characteristics that have a profound impact on search and conversion rate optimisation (CRO).
1) Navigation and usability
Website navigation, which is also known as internal link architecture, describes the accessibility and linkage of pages and resources within the website. The navigation layout determines how easy it is for users and web crawlers to find and understand pages, content and resources on your site.
Usability refers to how easy the site is to use. Internet users have a limited attention span; your site has to appear intuitive and relevant to the visitor at first glance. User-friendly navigation and usability improve the user experience (UX), thus reducing bounce rates while making it easy for search engines to find and index your pages.
2) Page loading speed
Page loading time is the time it takes a web page to display and enable all its elements. The ideal recommended page load time is 3 seconds. People hate to be kept waiting, a majority of shoppers and visitors abandon pages that seem to load slower than expected.
E-commerce websites with poor load speeds experience high bounce rates and numerous instances of abandoned carts. This affects SERP and conversion rates severely. It’s crucial to maintain an acceptable load time; when it comes to SEO and sales conversions, quite literally every second counts.
3) Mobile-friendly design
More than half of all internet users access the web through mobile devices. Realising that the search traffic was quickly shifting to mobile devices, about a year ago, Google introduced the mobile-first indexing to improve user experience on mobile platforms. Developers have had to come up with new ways of optimising websites for mobile use; some of which include responsive design, and accelerated mobile pages.
Ensure that your website performs well on mobile devices to reach out to the large mobile market, and to earn favour with search engines.
Your website plays a vital role in search engine marketing. Invest in a website designed to support your SEO efforts; one that will attract traffic and drive sales. Get in touch with us to learn more about web development and digital marketing.