There are many parameters used in measuring website performance. Ranking, for instance, is one of the most essential especially when it comes to marketing. And if your focus is improving website performance as it relates to SEO rankings, there are many factors to consider. Experts on web design services know there’s more to successful SEO than employing the right techniques. Website design is the foundation that can make or break your efforts.
The role of web design services in SEO rankings
Working with a professional web design service will put your business at an advantage. Designing a website isn’t as easy as it seems. And even if you rely on website builders to run your business site or blog, it’s likely to overlook technicalities that will affect site performance. So why is web design important?
Right now, Google focuses more on the user’s experience. What this means is that every search result aims to provide the highest relevance. According to web design services professionals, responsive and organized websites rank higher. A site usually gets higher rankings when:
- The content is informative and useful.
- The website is responsive for mobile users.
- The website uses search engine mark-up.
The principle is simple – the higher the quality of your site’s content, the better the page will rank for specific targeted keywords. Not only that, if the entire website is optimized, pages with good content will rank much higher.
But, remember that web design goes beyond the visuals. In fact, what’s more important here is the user’s experience. For example, how fast does it take for a page to load? Loading time alone can impact the performance of your site which relates to SEO success.
How does web design affect rankings?
Indeed, visual design and content are two elements that impact SEO significantly. But web design services companies also recommend incorporating practices that help SEO. Here are three ways in which we design directly impacts ranking results.
- SEO is directly related to the user’s experience. Good website design will help boost SEO rankings. Of course, if the site has a poor design, rankings will suffer too. Nowadays, search engines use AI to test the user experience. Remember that you can’t trick the bots, because what real users experience gets analyzed by search engine AI. If the site has a poor design, it’s likely for visitors to leave. And how users behave when they’re on the site will matter in rankings. A site that loads slowly will hinder further user engagement. Hence, both human users and search engine crawlers will pick up on the disadvantages of poor web design.
- High-quality website visuals increase the user’s time spent on the site. Creating a good first impression is very important. If you want to gain the trust of potential customers, you need to wow them with excellent site visuals. Many users that visit a site for the first time will leave if they perceive the site as poorly designed. Of course, good visuals should be integrated with quality content as well if you aim to increase conversions. Moreover, good site design coupled with quality and informative content encourage user engagement and boost reputation.
- Optimize the site for search engine crawlers. Prioritizing the user experience is indeed essential to rank higher. But, web design should also give importance to search engine crawlers. Web design should provide for a good user experience and at the same time help website crawlers index content. Web design elements will have a direct effect to indexing, which is highly damaging to rankings. The developer should format content, images, and URLs in a way that helps crawlers to index better. At the same time, users will appreciate the design and informative content on the site.
