SEO Web Design Tips for Creating SEO Friendly Web Design!

A Microsite Offers A Focused Message to Customers

A Microsite Gives Potential Customers New Ways to Find You

A Microsite Allows You Flexibility to Take Risks

The front-end user interface (UI) of a website, which is often tied to a site's design and layout, can have a profound impact many different performance variables.

Although UI is often concerned with usability, conversion rate optimization (CRO), web design and development, UI can most definitely influence SEO.

So whether your re-designing your website or building a new one, there are a few ways in which you can ensure your site's front-end interface is SEO-friendly. Let's dive right in.

Strategic Use of Rich Media

Dull, text-heavy pages usually offer crappy UI. However, text-heavy pages are often good for SEO and properly establishing keyword relevancy.

When it comes down to SEO, integrating rich media is a strategic balancing act. It's easy to make a page look pretty with hi-res images and perhaps a video. But often times, these rich media files can slow a pages load speed (and thus hinder SEO performance.)

Conversely, rich media files can actually improve your SEO (and CRO) efforts when integrated properly. SEO advantages can be gained when you:

• perform video and/or image optimization techniques (to better establish on-page keyword relevancy and help your pages pop in blended Google search results.)
• optimize robust file sizes to minimize the time required for media to load on a page.
• use rich media to leverage better calls-to-action and conversion elements.

Engagement Metrics Contribute to Site Authority

A clean and clear UI (that includes a balance of rich media) can greatly contribute to higher levels of engagement. Because Google and other search engines use website metrics like time on site and bounce rate to determine site authority, UI and SEO are practically cousins in the same family of strategies.
Like any meaningful relationship, first impressions are immensely important. Avoid cluttered page layouts, be creative with your copywriting, and use media that's unique, engaging, and purposeful (hint: stock photos usually suck.)

When crafting your optimized pages, focus on content that's educational, enlightening, and/or inspiring. Keep your visitors around longer (and convert them into leads/customers) with content that's near and dear to their interests. In essence, be empathetic and be real.

Without Conversions, Traffic is Meaningless

Perhaps you're site is inbounding loads of organic search traffic after a few months of SEO. But if that traffic is not converting in leads or sales, what's the point?

It all comes back to UI and CRO. A solid website that's geared toward conversions is the underlying foundation to a successful search marketing strategy. Below are some simple questions you might want to ask yourself, or your web marketing team.

• are we using specific calls-to-action?
• are our pages boring, and thus contributing to high bounce rates?
• do we have specific conversion goals or a conversion funnel?
• is our site's web design outdated and looks like it's from the 90's?

You can't afford to invest in SEO if your site just sucks. There are far too many affordable website resources available to make cost your excuse.

So whether you're doing SEO for a client, or SEO for your own business, be sure to respect UI and the level of value you offer your users (beyond your products or services.)

The growing trend of mobile Internet marketing has provided another wrinkle for businesses investing in search engine optimization to consider in their never-ending pursuit to reach qualified consumers.

Yet some statistics show that only 20 to 26 percent of small businesses have a mobile-friendly website. If your company is one of the majority that do not have a mobile website, you'll want to consider the following SEO Web Design Tips as reasons to get one.

 

It's Essential for Conversion Optimization

Imagine you're a consumer who is stranded on the side of the road and needs a tow truck. What do you do?

If you're one of the majority of Americans who own an iPhone, Android or other smartphone device, odds are you'll turn to your mobile Internet browser and do a Google search for a local tow truck company.

Now imagine you've pulled up the local search results and you've landed on that company's website, but the site isn't mobile friendly and there is no easy way to click to call them to come to your aid. This experience for consumers is a discouraging one that more often than not will lead them to bounce off that page back to the search results in an effort to find a more mobile-friendly business.

If your business has invested in SEO to get in front of that consumer who needed your service, but you didn't have a mobile site to aid in converting them into a customer, you've just lost money.

In many ways, having a mobile-friendly website is a conversion optimization strategy for companies investing in SEO services. Had that mobile consumer landed on your mobile-friendly website and was greeted with an easy click-to-call button, the likelihood they would have converted into a sale would have been far more likely.

 

Your ROI Depends on it

When we discuss conversion optimization as a primary reason for needing a mobile site for your SEO strategy, we're doing so with ROI in mind. As it was mentioned above, when that user landed on your website and then exited immediately, that was a revenue producing lead that didn't convert. That obviously has a negative impact on your ROI.

If you're supplementing your SEO strategy with a PPC campaign and this scenario occurred after a mobile user had clicked on one of your PPC ads and then bounced off your site, that's money right out of your pocket that also decreases the overall return you'll get for your marketing investment.

 

Mobile is Only Going to Get Bigger

Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying that the influx of mobile Internet users is ramping at a rate 8x faster than the initial influx that we saw with the desktop computer.

In the coming months and years, mobile is going to play a much larger role for ecommerce websites, as security and technology evolves to make mobile online shopping more user friendly and more secure.

Forrester Research projects an increase from the $8 billion ecommerce dollars spent in 2012 on mobile devices will increase to $31 billion by 2017, an increase of 3% to 9% of all ecommerce sales.


If your company is spending valuable marketing budget in a search engine optimization campaign, these statistics can't be ignored. The significance of mobile Internet is only going to grow, and if your company wants to get the most out of its online marketing strategy, having a mobile-friendly website is a necessary step in the right direction.

When it comes to building an SEO friendly website, selecting the right SEO friendly CMS is essential. While it's not the only SEO friendly CMS on the market, one of the most popular CMS platforms for SEOs out there is Wordpress CMS. Despite its SEO Web Design friendliness, Wordpress requires a third party plugin in order to properly SEO your website.

Two names surface to the top of every discussion and debate on the subject of SEO plugins for Wordpress: All in One SEO Pack and Yoast SEO.

Both of these plugins have a positive reputation from webmasters of Wordpress sites. Many have concluded that it all boils down to personal preference since both plug-ins perform excellently in various areas as far as search engine optimization is concerned.

But before you decide on whether you would use All In One SEO or Yoast SEO, here is a breakdown between the two to help you make a well-informed decision.

 

 All in One SEO Pack

The old timer of all SEO plug-ins, All in One SEO has been the staple choice of Wordpress webmasters for years because of its simplicity and no-nonsense approach. Configuration and modification are all done in just one configuration page, which enables editors to tweak everything all at once. All in One SEO supports canonical URLs, quick and easy entry of meta information, and fast setup of personal default settings.

All in One SEO, simply put, is all about the basics. These include setting page and post formats, assigning no index to tags and categories, and 404 title formats among others. It does not yet have any link features that connects a website with the owner’s Alexa accounts.

While there are various features missing in All in One SEO’s string of goodies, what really makes this plug-in a hard sell is that it does not have a “breadcrumbs” feature that is highly popular among SEO strategists.

The paid version also offers the same characteristics plus the free tech support that comes with it.

 

Wordpress SEO by Yoast

Comprehensive, yet not complicated, the Yoast SEO plug-in has drawn webmasters and SEO practitioners left and right. This plug-in boasts of multiple features not found in other SEO plug-ins.

For one, Yoast SEO has a post edit widget that helps webmasters spot any optimization deficiency with their pages.  Another goodie that comes with the Yoast SEO plug-in is its “breadcrumbs” feature.

But what makes Yoast SEO a winner is its Page Analysis tool. This is a diagnostic application that provides you vital SEO data, specifically common SEO flaws in your pages. Quick and reliable, this feature is great especially when it comes to fast on-page optimization tweaks.

 

So Which Plugin is Better for Wordpress SEO?

If you are a minimalist who prefers easy and quick SEO tweaking and modifications, then you cannot go wrong with the All in One SEO Pack. Yoast SEO, on the other hand, is a perfect fit for those who prefer a rather aggressive and result-driven search engine optimization tactics and techniques with total control over the configuration of your Wordpress site.

Do you have an opinion on which Wordpress SEO plugin you prefer? Leave your comments below!

So your company has built a website, invested in search engine optimization and you're now No. 1 - mission accomplished, right? WRONG!

In SEO marketing, just because you're website ranks No. 1 for your targeted keyword, that doesn't automatically spell maximum success for your web presence.

As the slide show below highlights, there's far more to a successful search optimization strategy than just getting searchers to your site. The goal is to CONVERT those users into sales, contacts, email lists, etc.

That's where effective SEO Web Design comes into play. Optimizing your website design to drive more conversions by utilizing strong calls to action, incentivizing users to fill out a form or to get in touch with you, or by offering discounts, freebies, etc., are just some of the ways you can increase conversion rates on your site. Because when a business invests in SEO, it's conversions that ultimately matter, no matter how high you're ranking, or how much traffic is hitting your website.

Check out this SlideShare presentation below about why being No. 1 isn't everything in SEO marketing.

When it comes to SEO and Web Design, it's important for businesses to consider BOTH before completely rebuilding their website. There are many outdated web design practices that can hinder your SEO campaign efforts if your website designer isn't building your website for optimal search engine friendliness.

In the video below, SEO specialist Chris J. Everett of Captivate Search Marketing explains some of the outdated techniques that you'll want your web designer to avoid when building your new website. He also discusses the many benefits that come from planning ahead and thinking about SEO before building out your new website.


What other Web Design mistakes can hinder your search engine optimization efforts? Feel Free to leave a comment below!

If you're looking for a top-notch SEO web design company to build and optimize your website, then this blog post is for you.

There are tons of web design companies that offer SEO to their clients. And although this is convenient for the client (in not having to deal with to vendors for both web design and SEO,) there's quite a gray area in what some web design firms think SEO is all about.

Sure, SEO does involve the basics like keyword optimizing page titles, Meta data, and page copy. However, this is only about 15% of the complete equation.

SEO has evolved significantly. That is, the old techniques that worked 1-2 years ago are now counter intuitive and can actually get your website penalized. So before you hire a SEO web design company to handle both your website's design and its SEO campaign, you'll want to make sure that you choose the right company to work with.

Characteristics of Quality SEO Web Design Companies

So what defines a quality SEO web design company? Below are some points to consider when shopping for a good provider for these services.

• Solid SEO web design companies are strategic content marketers who understand how to leverage Google Authorship, blogging and other forms of content creation.
• Proficient SEO web design firms staff highly-experienced website developers who know the best practices of SEO-friendly HTML coding
• Quality SEO web design companies are well-versed in social media marketing and how social influences organic SEO
• Trusted SEO web design firms provide ongoing support services in case of issues or website malfunctions
• Knowledge SEO web design providers will educate their clients on what they are doing, as well as what the client can do themselves to benefit the entire campaign

Proficient SEO and web design firms are also very communicative and clear in what they provide and what you can expect as a client. If you'd like to learn more about the qualities of killer SEO web design company, visit OIC Group, Inc., a trusted firm that's been pioneering the SEO and web design professions for over ten years.

This blog post was contributed by Tyler Tafelsky, a five-year expert in organic SEO and website optimization.