Website design. It’s the buzz phrase that we volley back and forth in the world of online marketing. But what does it really mean? Sure – if we’re launching a website – we want the design to be in keeping with our overall business model to promote brand continuity. And, of course, we want the website to look good; to appeal to our target audience. But when it comes to creating a fully optimized website, there is much more to consider than just whether or not the site has aesthetic value. Ultimately, in order to operate successfully – as we tell our clients – a website must straddle form and function; in other words, speak to its audience with regard to style and functionality while simultaneously considering the requirements of the search engines.
Striking this delicate balance means building a site with on-page SEO optimization that is inherent in the design. Here are some important things to keep in mind:
*Looking good may not necessarily do you good. Some design choices – while done with the best intentions – may actually work against your SEO efforts. Keep the design simple and clean – both to ease the user experience and also to allow search engines spider to easily crawl your site.
*Be mindful of images. An overall website design can benefit from the use of images but, if not placed correctly, their use can actually thwart the search engines. By using mouse-overs, you can include text with images that will be readable to the engines – without disrupting the user experience.
*Choose a font that can be read by the search engines. Graphical text looks attractive but it’s essentially invisible to the search engine spiders. Luckily there are many regular texts that will serve your purpose just as well without compromising your SEO advantage.
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