If, as a marketer, you have been handed a fully-designed website and asked to do SEO to it, then you are not alone. It is safe to say that the individual who tasked you with making some SEO magic was probably operating under the assumption that SEO is only about keywords and backlinks, rather than about how the overall site is designed.
In reality, while including keywords in the website copy and earning links from high-quality domains are both essential, there are many other factors that matter in search engine optimization.
We will see the 6 elements of the web design that can affect organic search performance, and how you can optimize each.
Also read: YouTube SEO Hacks
1. Navigation
The website’s information architecture plays an important role in user experience. How quickly and easily users can find the information or functionality they are looking for is reflected in metrics like your bounce rate.
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave without viewing any other pages on the website.
If the bounce rate is high, it could be due to the way users can or cannot navigate to relevant content or complete a desired action.
Besides causing a loss of potentially relevant leads, bounce rate has a direct impact on the ranking. Search engines interpret a high bounce rate as a sign that the website is not meeting the expectations and needs of the users, and rankings for important keywords will be impacted.
You need a clear, hierarchical website structure, which also makes it easier for search engines to crawl the website and determine how the content on the website should rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
2. Images and Videos
It might feel tempting, given all of the great camera and video technology that is out there, to add as many of the beautiful and high-resolution photos and videos to the website, but it might not be the best idea. Why? Because huge image and video files can take a long time to load if they’re not optimized properly.
Search engines take site speed (and page speed) into account when determining a website’s ranking on results pages. Their ultimate goal is to provide a positive experience for their users, so they don’t want to send them to a website that takes too long to load.
Now the question comes to mind is: How long is too long? A survey showed the bounce rate probability increases to 58% if your page takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
3. Fonts
If there is a doubt in your mind that Google will judge the font you have used and rank you accordingly, you can breathe and relax. The choice of font type will not directly impact the organic search rankings. However, the font choices do impact the user experience, which does have implications for SEO.
Using too many different fonts, fonts that are difficult to read, or font sizes that are too small or too big to be read easily all negatively impact the quality of the user experience.
Also read: How Small Fonts Transform Your Design Aesthetics
4. Mobile Responsiveness
Having a responsive website is non-negotiable now. In a lot of cases, however, the mobile experience is still prioritized relative to the desktop experience. But, what is it even a case?
The ever-increasing rate of mobile phone users has increased tremendously, and it is expected to rise even further. But not all industries reflect that global average. Most B2B companies, whose buyers surf during the day, report a significantly higher percentage of desktop traffic than mobile.
But, in March of 2018, Google announced that they will index the mobile version of a page first, “to better help our, primarily mobile, users find what they’re looking for. ” Meaning the mobile content needs to load quickly and be optimized for consumption on a smaller screen.
Also read: Responsive Web Design and AI
5. Header Hierarchy
Online readers expect to find the information they are looking for faster than ever. A small percentage of readers read website content word-for-word.
Headers are very helpful to provide structure and help give visitors an idea of the content you cover on any given page, which makes them less likely to bounce before reading more.
While the importance of including keywords in header tags has come into question, 80% of first-page results on Google use an H1 header; not having one is like publishing a story without a title, which we all don’t need.
6. Layout Consistency
Layout consistency is crucial for SEO because it directly influences both search engine crawlers and user behavior, impacting how a site is indexed and how long visitors stay. A consistent layout, using uniform navigation, typography, and content organization across all pages, signals to Google that a site is professional, trustworthy, and easy to navigate, which can boost search rankings.
You can ask an e-commerce SEO agency for help to understand the latest trends and demands of Google for the best SEO practices.