When creating a website that’s properly optimized for SEO, it can be a juggling act to develop one that both looks good and can be found easily by search engines.
When creating a website that’s properly optimized for SEO, it can be a juggling act to develop one that both looks good and can be found easily by search engines.
However, both good SEO and a good design are the keys to a great website. It’s certainly not easy, but with some simple tips making a website or blog that looks good and can be found easily is possible.
As with a lot of things online these days, it takes compromise in order to get the best of both worlds. Thankfully, you don’t need to be an SEO whiz kid or an experienced web developer to make sure your site looks good and works well at the same time.
Keep It Simple and Balanced
While it’s pretty painless to create a website that’s easily found on Google, it’s not as easy to have that website look good. An “ugly” website that’s easily discovered is great as long as the basic and possibly outdated design doesn’t turn visitors off from returning.
Similarly, a beautiful design and intricate website layout may be beautiful, but it doesn’t matter if no one can find it.
It’s important to remember to keep things simple and balanced. Don’t focus on SEO more than design, and don’t focus on design more than SEO. Incorporate the basic aspects of SEO and the basic aspects of an appealing web design together and then keep tweaking until you’re able to optimize both to the best of their abilities without causing any friction between the two.
Design Balance: Don’t Underestimate “Plain” Themes
Everyone wants a website or blog that’s visually appealing, but don’t get so caught up in the flash, transitions, and effects you see on other sites that you start to convince yourself that a less flashy website is “ugly”. Don’t think of your website as plain, think of it clean and simple.
Often times customers, especially older customer who aren’t as familiar with the Internet, don’t like the flashy features of a over-designed website because it confuses them. Someone who’s searching for nationwide signing companies isn’t going to be looking for a website that’s got a fancy, interactive design. There’s something very pleasing about a site that’s simple, yet familiar.
Keeping things simple is easy to work with; you can keep on top of both your signature look and an eye on those keywords.
Customize and Tweak
Once you’ve found the happy medium between SEO and design, you can then try to make subtle changes that make your website the best it can be. Focus on the boarders and font, or create a cohesive color palate that draws everything together. Once those basic things are done, start focusing on tablet and mobile versions of your site, since those are just as – if not more – important than your desktop site.
Ultimately, the more familiar you become with your website and what SEO and design functions work together for you the best, the more you’ll be able to create a site that will appeal to both search engines and the human eye.
Thanks for providing useful tips on web design and SEO.
I agree that we just have to keep things simple. Some of my favorite websites to look at have a simple yet sleek design that has a clear navigation of where to go. I tend to stay on those sites a lot longer. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Catherine
You are right people don’t care to much for fancy anymore, what they want is to land on the page, get the information they need and then act…
Me I prefer mimimalist design. So the reader’s attention is focused on the content.