As a full-service digital marketing agency, some may assume our team is divided. On one side of the ring: developers. On the other side: marketers. Digital marketing as a process can sometimes seem like a battle between the two. However, at Page One, we like to view the relationship as a loving, symbiotic one. No gloves involved.
Without a quality marketing strategy, your website is just a needle in a haystack. And without a quality website, your marketing strategy is, frankly, a waste of money.
An inter-woven relationship is especially crucial now more than ever, as SEO strategy requires additional technical considerations, from mobile friendliness to structured data markup and site link architecture.
If you’re ditching your outdated website for a new one, don’t just focus on the bells and whistles - function matters. Your website may be beautiful but if it is not search engine friendly, you not only restrict the ability of search engines to access your content, you compromise your user’s experience, too.
If you want to be successful in the SERPs, you literally cannot afford to ignore SEO-driven web design!
Here are 4 key elements to consider when building a website with SEO in mind.
1. Call-to-action (CTA) placement.
Your website has three purposes - to attract, to teach, and to convert. If yours stops at the first two but loses momentum (AKA users!), it may be time to revisit your CTAs.
On your primary landing pages, is it clear what the user should do? Are there one too many “Learn More”s? Is your contact information visible and easy to find no matter where you are on the site? Is there a clear distinction between your primary and secondary CTAs?
Consider all of these questions when navigating through your new website design.
2. Homepage content.
In most cases, your top landing page will be your website’s homepage. Since content is the root of getting your page indexed by Google, at least 400 words of homepage content is a must.
As opposed to your About page, which should detail your company’s history and values, homepage content should lay out the “synopsis” of your company: what you do, what you sell, and why. Write your content with your ideal customer and their needs in mind.
3. Navigation structure.
The structure, order, and titles of your website’s page navigation (read: sitemap) are essential for SEO. Not only do search engine algorithms utilize your XML sitemap to crawl your site, but your navigation points visitors in the right direction.
Consider the conversion funnel. What are your users expecting first? Use historical data and leverage heatmapping to identify where they go most often and where they may get lost on your current website. The order you present the pages on your website is essential when pushing your users to convert. If they don’t know where to go, they’ll take the first exit out.
Services > Portfolio > About > Resources > Request a Quote
4. Code weight.
Put on your developer cap, it’s time to talk code.
Modern graphic design has presented us with image-focused, experience-centered websites with sharp colors and fluid animations to set brands apart from the rest.
These elements are great from a design perspective, but things like large images or videos and excess CSS or JavaScript can take a toll on page load speed, in turn jeopardizing your rankings. Even the organization of your site’s core files can negatively affect how your site is crawled and indexed.
You can have your cake and eat it too, though, so long as you take the steps to prioritize technical SEO. Plugins like Autoptimize and Smush Pro offer simple solutions to compressing your website’s assets.
In an ever-divisive world, developers and marketers are the yin and yang of a successful digital marketing strategy. If you’re budgeting for a new website this year, know that your website rebuild project must go hand-in-hand with your SEO campaign.
Your new site may provide you a shiny new car to drive, but is it built to handle tough terrain? Let the experts at Page One Web Solutions help you navigate.
