Our Tips for Designing an SEO-Friendly Website

70% of clicked search results are organic. Even though PPC ads are rampant these days, plenty of users give organic links greater regard, which means that refining your SEO strategy is paramount to gaining the traffic you want and increasing your chances of accruing conversions.

It's not enough to have a pretty website or a bespoke website design that fits your brand's aesthetic. While that helps to lure your audience in and attract them to navigate your site longer, it doesn't really help much when it comes to making your website rank on search engines. At the end of the day, you still need to incorporate SEO strategies to rank better in search results.

On-page optimization includes web SEO strategies that are controlled by the website owner. These strategies play a crucial role in how the search engines crawl and understand your content.

On-page optimization vs off-page optimization

Now, there are two ways for you to supercharge your website's SEO. First, you’ll have to perform on-page optimization. These strategies play a crucial role in how the search engines' crawlers navigate and understand your content.

Here are the most common on-page optimization strategies worth looking into:

• Performing keyword research, which is all about selecting the right keywords and topics, and using them in appropriate places on the website
• Producing valuable content that can be used to earn inbound links on off-page optimizations strategies (more on this later)
• Creating a responsive website that can be viewed using any device
• Sharing a variety of content types, including images, videos, lists, and more
• Using title tags, header tags, image alt tags, and meta description tags correctly
• Designing your URL structures in a way that is better optimized for both users and search engines
• Creating an internal link structure, navigation, and information architecture that helps search engines crawl the website effectively

Off-page optimization, on the other hand, refers to the application of various SEO strategies beyond the confines of your website. Doing off-page optimization typically earns you links and social media mentions, which in turn will increase the authority of your site and result in better rankings and more traffic.

Here are the most common off-page optimization strategies you may want to try:

• Performing competitor analysis to gain a better understanding of what strategies they are using to rank in search results
• Using keyword-rich anchor texts in your inbound links
• Earning inbound links from sites that are considered authoritative
• Collecting links to content deep within your website

White hat vs black hat SEO

SEO techniques are typically divided into two categories: white hat and black hat. White hat SEO is acceptable by search engines and is actually considered good practice when it comes to improving your rankings. Meanwhile, black hat SEO involves employing techniques that are deceptive. Applying them to your site will usually result in penalties and being blacklisted by search engines. It involves things like link farming, buying and selling links, keyword stuffing, article spinning, and more.

In conclusion

SEO is important, but you need to do it correctly for it to work in your favour. In addition to having a bespoke web design, it's vital that you continuously work on your SEO to achieve higher rankings in search engines. Looking for an SEO service that will help you rank for the long-term? Get in touch with us to see how we can help or activate your account today!