Search Engine Optimization (SEO) management is among the key elements for the success of any business website today. Failure to continually optimize your Google search positioning will directly impact your website’s ability to attract targeted leads online and correspondingly, decrease your company’s sales from online traffic.
(3 SEO Rules for Content Optimization)
Three relatively common web design mistakes that impair a user’s experience onsite and as a result hurt the site’s Search Engine rankings include: the improper reliance upon the use of advertisements on the introduction or homepage; the use of too many images with insufficient content to balance them out; and the use of multiple fonts and inconsistent color schemes throughout the site. Conversely, there are ways you can get a leg up on the competition if you incorporate these website design elements and strategies when planning your site’s design:
Multiple Pages Designated or Key Messaging, Descriptives to Clearly Reflect Your Business and Offerings: First, a successful website is designed to include multiple pages with relevant content on each page segregated in an orderly and organized fashion – easily laid out and navigable. Having all of the information about your business, its offerings, capabilities, testimonials, contact details and all relevant resources and information necessary to build trust with your leads bunched together on one or two pages is like trying to pick out ingredients in goulash. With goulash, you simply want to eat it all at once. With information, not so much! Keeping things orderly while at the same time, providing all of the information and resources your customers need will in most cases required multiple pages, well laid out and accessible in one click.
Lower Image/HTML to Written Content Ratio: Second, website designs should not include the use of an unreasonable number of images relative to written content. Google scans and indexes websites based upon the amount of original content, not necessarily images, within an entire site. Google ranks analyzes use of keywords, not by the number of images displayed upon your website. That said, web designers must walk a fine line to balance imagery and content to not only provide the information visitors (and Google) are searching for but also create an experience that is pleasant and incentivizes a sustained presence on the site, let alone return visits down the line.
(The Keyword Mistake Your SEO Campaign Should Always Avoid)
Uniformity in Design, Color-Scheme and Font Selection: Finally, website designers need to work with their clients on developing a site with a unified color scheme and font selection. The inconsistent and unmanaged use of color and font sizes across the entirety of a website can quickly negatively impact the user-experience. Multiple fonts can make reading content on your site difficult and frustrating. And disorganized color schemes tend to distract from consumption of information visitors are there to find.
Incorporating these web design elements right off the bat can make a huge difference in how your website will rank against your competitors. If you’re looking for a Chicago web design solution and want to learn more about how website design can support your business’s efforts to target consumers or businesses online and draw their attention to your brand, call Proctor Digital at 773.664.5819 or email us at [email protected]. We’d love to support your efforts to get a let up on the competition.