If you don’t have a professional website for your business, you might as well close your business. Nowadays, a website is not an option but a necessity. The reason is that consumer buying behavior has changed. The buying journey starts with a Google search and usually ends with the purchase completed online. The percentage of people who buy from offline channels is decreased compared to online channels.
However, setting up a professional website is only the first step. You must ensure that it ranks on top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant keywords. It is where search engine optimisation (SEO) comes into play. SEO is the process of ranking a website and increasing organic traffic. The problem with SEO is that it is always evolving.
When you think you have mastered SEO, Google changes its search algorithm, forcing you to rethink your SEO strategy. It is why SEO is a continuous process, and you cannot stop your website’s SEO after ranking 1st on the SERPs. Today, we will share the top 10 web design tips from a user experience (UX) perspective for improving your SEO rankings.
You can hire a web design company in Toronto or elsewhere to implement these tips on your website. Your website will benefit greatly by engaging a professional web design company. Due to the considerable experience and skilled staff, there are very few chances of things going wrong.
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The first tip is to improve the website’s mobile friendliness. Research shows that most internet traffic comes from mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Over time, this percentage will further increase. So, ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. You can check your website’s mobile friendliness through Google’s ‘Mobile-Friendly Test’ tool. Most website owners believe that having a responsive website design is all there is to be mobile-friendly. It is not the case, and that’s why we request website owners to hire a professional design agency or elsewhere to ensure mobile friendliness. For example, there is a need to optimize website speed, decluttering, and designing/updating content with a revamped approach.
The bounce rate is a critical factor in SEO. If the bounce rate is considerably high, Google will automatically relegate your website to the lower pages. A call-to-action (CTA) button can reduce your website’s bounce rate. For example, users will click the ‘Read More’ or ‘Learn More’ button to browse other pages reducing the bounce rate. However, their effectiveness depends upon their placement and design. A professional web design company will undertake A/B testing to determine the most effective place and design.
We recommend making navigation as easy as possible. For example, if you are running an eCommerce website, ensure that users can easily find the relevant product without too much hassle. The simple navigation will reduce the bounce rate and increase user engagement. Poor navigation means there are problems with the website’s structure. In such a situation, even search engine crawlers will have a hard time crawling your website for content. They might not know which page is more authoritative.
If you have slow internet, opening a website becomes a hassle. The content might not load properly. In place of images, you might see a text which gives an idea about what the image is about. This text is referred to as image tags. Make effective use of image tags as they factor in the ranking algorithm. It also helps the user experience.
As internet speeds improve worldwide, users expect websites to load quickly. Research shows that users close a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Therefore, improve your page speed. Google has also confirmed that it uses the website’s loading speed in its ranking algorithm.
User information is at risk if your website does not have an SSL certificate or HTTPS enabled. Most users will shy away from such websites, especially if it is an e-Commerce website. Therefore, ensure you implement the latest security measures and display the relevant badges proudly on the website. It will reinforce user trust in the website and improve their experience. Also, security features are a ranking factor and can help your SEO strategy.
Don’t forget the importance of readability. Whatever content is on your website (text, images, infographics, videos, animation), ensure that it is readable/viewable. If your website visitors have a hard time reading/viewing anything on your website, they are not getting any value. They will simply close the website and move towards the next one. Poor readability/viewability will also impact your SEO.
A search engine crawler scans your website to begin the ranking process after it goes live. If your website uses too much JavaScript, it can impact the scan. So, ask your web design company to balance the benefits and cons of using JavaScript.
Most website owners stress having high-quality visuals such as videos and images. They don’t realise they consume too much space and reduce the loading speed. Users will also complain that their data is consumed too quickly. Therefore, optimise the visuals without impacting their quality. It will improve loading times and overall website design.
Lastly, opt for simpler website architecture. Ensure that all pages are easily accessible and that users don’t end up confused or frustrated. It will enable the link juice to be passed from high authority pages to the lower ones, improving the ranking. It will also make the crawling process easier.
It concludes our article on the top 10 web design tips from a UX perspective for improving SEO rankings in 2023. We recommend that you implement these tips immediately to stay on top of the rankings and gain an edge over your competitors.
is an experienced digital marketing professional with over six years of experience. Other than that, the author loves to write across different niches, especially those related to marketing and technology. Humza is the lead writer at United Sol.