A basic understanding of the factors that are important to having a website perform well on search engines is a prerequisite for a successful web designer. While having a nice looking website is certainly critical as well, many of the elements that search engine algorithms look for in judging where to rank a website are integrated into the design, structure and content of the site. The following are some real-world reasons you should be well versed in SEO if you expect to be at all proficient in successful web design.
More Traffic From Mobile Users
For a while now, Google has insisted that websites be responsive in order to rank well. This means responsive to different devices such as smartphones and tablets rather than just desktops or laptops. Anyone who’s not building mobile-friendly websites in 2019 is really behind the eight ball and is not someone you want designing your site.
Superior User Experience
We’ve all been to websites that have a clunky interface or that have pages that take forever to load. Perhaps it has a clumsy navigation structure that makes it take longer than necessary to navigate to the information you’re looking for. All of these types of issues add up to a poor user experience, and this makes potential customers abandon your website, which means less visitor engagement.
Greater Engagement
Search engines reward websites that people want to hang around on longer with higher rankings. This is the subject of visitor engagement. If your website has compelling content combined with the other elements already mentioned for a superior user experience, they will want to stick around and explore to have their questions answered or find out more about what you have to offer. Pages that people spend more time on are seen as having higher authority within their field, and this is why they’re higher than other pages on SERPs. This is why tactics from years past of simply loading pages up with keywords to spam the search engines no longer work.
Enabling Small Business to Compete
If you’re a small business, it’s hard for you to compete in most ways with larger companies that have more resources to bring to bear. You don’t have the endless budget to pay A-list celebrities to endorse your products or to take out national TV ads. It takes fewer resources to compete at creating an SEO-friendly website, however, and it can make you look like one of the “big boys” online. If you can’t hire a full-time staff to do this for you, you can work with an SEO agency that specializes in this.
High-Quality Traffic
Your end goal as a business is to get new customers to sell your goods or services to. First, you need high-quality prospects to communicate with so that you even have someone to try to make the sale to. A well-designed website that incorporates SEO elements will not only bring more traffic but will bring more targeted traffic that is likely to convert into a customer.
Higher Rankings
This is, of course, the end game of a successful SEO campaign: Higher rankings under those keywords that bring in high-quality traffic. A technically sound and SEO-friendly website that delivers a superior user experience with fast-loading pages, simple navigation and compelling content will come together to do this for you.
Stick out From the Crowd With Professional SEO
The above reasons for web designers to be proficient at search engine optimization have been brought to you by Planet 8 Digital. We are based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania but have clients around the nation. If you are looking for a competitive advantage to boost your bottom line, that’s exactly what we are. We provide cutting-edge web design services that incorporate all the critical elements of SEO, so you are getting the type of traffic that grows your business. We can also handle all your other digital marketing needs, and we do so for budgets that are friendly to small businesses.
