4 Smart Ways to Design Your Site for Instant Search Visibility

SE0 is the language of every site owner, webmaster, content marketer, copywriter and every online marketer. While some may argue that it isn't their core function, web designers must always consider the likelihood of their designs to impact search positively. SEO must be incorporated into every designer's web portfolio.

Beautiful websites must be seen and appreciated. Which is why, when developing attractive themes and interfaces for their websites, designers must adopt SEO best practices that give their site an edge over others in SERP rankings.

Whatever the function of a website, from ecommerce to specialised digital publishing, good rankings for SEO attracts more customers or users to engage. The foundation for proper visibility is registering a relevant domain name. Top companies like Free Parking freeparking.co.nz/domain-names/nz/ have made it possible for people to register relevant domain names. Make sure you register a domain name that communicates what your business is about, hence reducing bounce rates.

Here are 4 other smart ways designers can boost the search visibility of their websites.

Make web navigation streamlined

When people visit a website, their behaviour is primarily information seeking. Only when a visitor finds what they want, can they settle down to assimilate. You therefore have to design e-commerce and other sites for engagement. Unfortunately, if an interface is too busy or jammed with conflicting pages, they will keep searching and eventually bounce off.

Design your website for both humans and robots to find the information (or keywords) they seek. Ensure your web menu is both functional and helpful. Link your pages in a linear fashion and put shortcut links to simplify navigation around your website. If people feel comfortable using your site, it's search potential will increase.

Avoid code stuffing; do regular clean-ups

Writing smart code makes your website do many amazing things. Unfortunately, to make the most of it, web designers must do the following:

• Avoid stuffing code into the web page. Busy websites reduce the efficiency and user interest.

• The ability to work with minimised code and still make a great page is essential.

Not only real people, but when there is too much code on a website, search engines can find it ambiguous too. It might look good on the frontend, but a busy code on the back-end can lead to problems with indexing. On some occasions, take time to clean up your web codes.

Smart and responsive web design

Although Google says up to 85% of websites on their mobile search pages are mobile responsive, the remaining 15% still count. Google started Mobilegeddon to make site owners adapt their website to a more compatible platform for mobile searchers. However, it doesn't stop there, a good mobile UX is essential.

If mobile users can use your website without experiencing difficulty, chances are your SEO rankings will be high.

If there are issues such as small screen problems or text comprehensibility, they will dumb down the ease of use. You content writing also needs to be written to cater for the mobile environment. Mobile content should be easily digestible and not too lengthy. Another important point is to avoid intrusive interstitials or pop up ads that block main content. A smart website is guaranteed to rank well on SERPs.

Website speed is important

Today's web users are a different breed from the past decade. They are very knowledgeable, brand aware and impatient. Once your website lags in performance, they'll jet off to a more efficient one. Avoid losing potential customers to your competitors this way.

Check regularly, how fast it takes your webpages to load and resolve accordingly. You can do speed tests here. If your site is slow, try optimising the images to suit the space. Clean up ambiguous codes and install plugins that automatically cut media files to the appropriate size. Google also penalises slow websites by sending them down SERP ranks. You will enjoy higher rankings if you have a fast website.

If you are a web designer, SEO is equally an essential part of your practice. When you develop attractive user interfaces (UIs), you don't just want more people to see it, but revisit the site and increase engagement.