Everyone wants to be on the first page of Google when someone is searching for what they offer. It’s the holy grail (and let’s face it – past page two and you’re toast). But how to get there?
There are a combination of factors – some harder than others to crack, but the most basic, intrinsic and vital one of them all, is good web design. That doesn’t necessarily mean the visuals of the site (although of course, it does have to look the job), but rather the design of the ‘mechanics’ behind the scenes. How the site operates, and this should always, always be with SEO in mind.
Build Your Own?
It’s all very well trying to build your own site – companies make it very easy to attract in first-timers looking for something cheap and cheerful. They offer a basic template that you can customise and add pictures to as you go along. It all seems very workable until you realise you really do need an understanding of the language of site building. And not only that – a big handle on SEO, coding, and how it all works.
Find A Professional
That’s where a great designer is worth their weight in gold. Someone who:
1) takes the time to understand your business and what you want to gain from it.
2) talks you through the proposed visuals and amount of pages needed
3) asks about your future plans and how things will grow. And then plans ahead for what may be needed in due course
4) researches your vital key search terms – the words and phrases that people will be using to find you. At Spray Marketing we have a deep understanding of Google algorithms and are able to exploit this to full capacity when it comes to filling your site with organic content (rather than ‘overstuffing’ with keywords and then being penalised for it).
5) understands about building a site that’s easy to ‘crawl’. Search engines ‘crawl’ the web looking for compatible words and phrases.
6) designs responsively – the site should be compatible and up to date for use on mobile devices too. If your site isn’t, it will be HEAVILY penalised.
7) and of course – the look of the site. Attractive, easy to navigate, holding attention whilst not being overpowering.
Don’t Be Fooled By The Bling
A website may be smart, attractive – dazzling even! But if it’s not SEO-friendly, then it’s not doing its job. SEO and design go hand-in-hand, so be sure your designer is up to the job.
Other things that will need to be incorporated include:
Title Tagging: On both website pages and added content (like blog posts) – adding keywords to titles makes the content more ‘searchable’. Again – using strategic wording and phrases.
Link Building: Lots of backlinks to your site means good SEO. We’re experts in creating opportunities for quality links to your site – making it more attractive in terms of search engines.
Regular Fresh Content Updates: Google loves fresh content. So if you’re adding regularly to your site – (news, updates, blogs, special offers etc.) – then that’s great.
And Updates. Without being regularly updated (your website platform – WordPress, Joomla, Moonfruit or whoever it is) will regularly release updates and improvements. These need to be acted upon immediately. A website that is ‘out of date’ is not only unattractive in SEO terms – it’s also open to hackers. These updates contain the latest security advances, so ignore them at your peril.
We hope you’re convinced that good web design starts at the very beginning – the building blocks of a successful business are put in place right at the start. Let Spray Marketing help you on your way.
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