To be a true master of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), you’re going to need more than a well-designed and search-optimized website. You’re most likely going to need a well rounded approach full of social mentions, respected backlinks, citations, and a well researched list of keywords!

The tricky thing about the factors that go into each search engine ranking system is that they are evolving and increasing in competition everyday. Leaps in succession can happen with strategy, but consistency is what maintains your momentum. According to MOZ (the largest community of SEOs on the planet), generally SEO requires a lot of work to achieve and subsequently the vast majority of websites don’t have proper campaigns.

“So why do all websites that look amazing, typically have little room for on-page optimization?”

... and

“Why do pages that are well optimized compromise design and user experience?”

..these are both common discussions that are actively happening on Quora and Moz forums every day, so we wanted to give some hints and tips as to how you build sites that look amazing and are engaging, yet still maintain SEO performance!

Design with SEO front of mind

Typical designers focus on web pages that look great, focus on the user feasibility, and promote engagement because that is what they are taught to do.

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...but who wants to have a website that looks great if it can’t be found?
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Typical SEOs want sites that promote crawlability and are easily rankable.
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...but is there any point of being easy to find if the website isn’t engaging?

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Uniting these two disciplines from the beginning is your best bet! If your design team and SEO team appreciate each others' requirements, the results can be innovative and outstanding when they collaborate from the get go.

For example, Call to Actions created by designers are going to be constructed from the basis of visuals, well-positioned copy, and high click-through rates.

An SEO is going to need that CTA to have clear defined headers, <h1> tags, accompanied by low competition long tail keywords.

The collaboration between both teams would ensure quality in the CTA’s user experience and click through, while maintaining “live text” to give search engines everything needed to be indexed.

Start with On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization includes SEO strategies that can be controlled directly from the beginning by designers. These strategies play a crucial role in how search engines crawl and understand your content, and utilizing these methods from the beginning saves you time and energy from having to go back and make changes to promote inbound clicks.

On-page Optimization Strategies Include:

• Conducting low competition keyword research, selecting the right keywords based on industry/topics and using them in appropriate places on the page that make sense to both users and search engines.
• Using title tags, header tags, image alt tags, and meta description tags appropriately.
• Creating a URL structure that is optimized for users and search engines.
• Creating an internal link structure, navigation, and an information architecture that helps the search engines crawl the website effectively and efficiently, and aligns with your user’s expectations.
• Creating useful content that can be increase leverage when earning inbound links during off-page optimization strategies.
• Using multiple types of content such as images, videos, lists, and text.
• Creating a responsive website design that is optimized for all screen types.
• Create consistency throughout the entire website through design and copywriting.
  
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Set the stage for Off-Page Optimization

Off-page optimization is the execution of the marketing and amplification of a website post-development. This tactic results in building links to reputable domains and social media mentions that will increase the authority of your website, resulting in an increase in SEO rankings and organic inbound traffic.

Off-page Techniques Include:

• Competitive analysis geared to better understand the strategies others in the industry are using to rank in the search results.
• Applying keyword-rich anchor text in your inbound links.
• Earning inbound links from websites that are considered influential by SERPS.
• Earning links to content within your domain.

SEO and Design go hand-in-hand!

When SEO is done correctly and built into the web design process, SEO services add value to the website experience by making the website search engine-friendly, promote a better user experience,  and greatly help businesses achieve their marketing goals. Having your designer collaborate with your SEO in the planning stages of any website is the game changer that will set your website ahead of the competition before you even launch.

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If you would like a complimentary SEO audit on your current website, shoot us an email at contact@kaeles.com!

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