SEO Website Design – 25 Vital Steps for Your Site’s Success

SEO website design is responsive, navigation-friendly, and mobile-optimized. According to HubSpot, over 73 percent of web designers blame non-responsive design for leads exiting a website, proving the value of good design in winning audience attention and improving your status in SERPs. How do you develop a website design optimized for SEO?

SEO web design requires a solid website foundation with reliable hosting, HTTPS, and a robots.txt file. You should build an easily navigable website structure, implementing meta tags, readable URLs, internal links, and meta descriptions. Optimize your keywords and focus on the user experience, using SEO monitoring tools to track your backlinks and ranking.

In this guide to SEO and web design, you’ll learn all about the required elements your website needs as you retool it.

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization or SEO is your business’s on-page and off-page strategies to improve search engine results pages or SERPs.

On-page SEO refers to the changes you make to your website and off-page centers around backlinks and elements beyond your website that impact it.

Backlinks matter more than ever, as SEMrush reports that Google prioritizes sites with the highest backlinks. However, this is a case of quality over quantity.

Your business should aspire for the top spot on the first page of SERPs. Even getting on the first page is enough to positively impact your website traffic, as SEMrush also reports that under one percent of internet searchers ever make it to Google’s second page of SERPs.

What Is Website Design?

Web design involves planning and executing a website layout. With roughly 1.13 billion websites online in 2023, it’s not enough to have any ol’ website if you want to improve your search engine optimization rank. Your site must be SEO-optimized.

Here are some basic web design elements the average consumer will expect when they land on your site:

• Responsive design
• Readable typography
• Appealing graphics
• Complimentary color scheme
• Solid branding
• Simple but effective page layouts
• Calls to action
• Visual hierarchy
• Page headers and footers
• Social media buttons

Why Are They Important Together?

Website design has always gone hand-in-hand with search engine optimization. Here are five benefits of combining the two.

• Attracts high-intent traffic
• Improves the user experience
• Increases ROI
• Low-cost marketing strategy

How to Build an SEO-Friendly Website in 25 Steps

Now that we’ve established the basics, it’s time to build on those foundations with the following SEO website design steps and strategies.

Before starting: Website Foundation

Your website foundation enables easier crawling for search engines and site navigability for an enjoyable, efficient user experience. Here are five elements of your site foundation to prioritize as your SEO web design gets underway.

1. Choose a Reliable Content Management System (CMS)

A content management system or CMS includes content creation, storage, workflows, and publishing. It’s a collaborative tool allowing for all hands on deck to expedite content-related processes as your company begins building toward a higher volume of content.

Utilizing a CMS system has many benefits. You can publish more content at scale. Cloud-based and mobile-friendly CMS systems are always accessible, even on the go. Many CMS tools produce analytics to improve your content.

2. Select Reliable Hosting

The web host you choose is important as you build your company’s first website or rebuild it from the ground up. Reliable hosting is a pillar of SEO-friendly web design.

The occasional website outage won’t hurt your search engine ranking, but if your site goes down frequently enough, Google and other search engines will de-index it.

3. Choose an SEO-Friendly Domain Name

Consider your domain name when revising your website for a higher position in the SERPs. Domain SEO involves selecting a top-level domain and domain optimized for search engines.

Shorter is better here, with seven to 13 characters the recommended limit. Use a simple domain, but select one based on keyword research.

4. Implement HTTPS for Site Security

Mediaboom and most websites you visit online use HTTPS, short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It’s a step beyond standard Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP, incorporating encryption for a secure website browsing experience.

Leads and website visitors will feel more confident visiting an HTTPS website. Search engines value HTTPS as well, as it indicates yours is a high-quality, trustworthy site worthy of being boosted in SERPs.

5. Configure the robots.txt File

Web crawlers and bots rely on the Robots Exclusion Protocol or robots.txt file to tell them which sites to crawl and which to skip. This editable file ensures Google’s crawlers only assess your completed, optimized pages.

If you have pages in progress, configure the text file to block crawlers from visiting until your next site crawl.

Mediaboom can help you create a strong website foundation that will become the basis of your SEO-friendly site. Contact our experts today for a free consultation.

Website Structure and Design

Next, it’s time to broaden your SEO website design, building on your site structure with the following elements.

6. Create a Clear Navigation Structure

All websites have a navigation structure, but whether yours is neat and straightforward or a mess depends on the attention you’ve put on it. A website’s navigation structure should have a clear relationship between connected pages.

For example, the about page will be connected to a team and mission page, related to a page about your pricing plans. That will be connected to a contact page linked to your blog.

The more straightforward the navigation structure, the easier a search engine crawler can comb your website.

7. Use a Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Theme

Your website’s theme encompasses all front-end design elements, including typography, text sizing, positioning, headers and footers, color palettes, backgrounds, and page layouts.

You may be able to select from premade themes or design your own for more originality. Keep in mind that your theme must be mobile-ready, responsive, and UX-optimized.

8. Use Readable and Keyword-Optimized URLs

SEO website design requires search-engine-friendly URLs. As you did when creating your website domain, implement keyword research into your URL titles.

Descriptive URLs tell your audience where they’re being redirected, even before clicking on a link (such as hovering).

If your URL has several words, rely on hyphens to separate them. However, don’t use long URLs, and keep all the text lowercase.

9. Optimize Images Using Lightweight Formats and Alt Tags

Images liven up your website, adding visual appeal, but large files can hamper loading speed and detract from the mobile viewing experience. Consider using lightweight image formats such as GIFs, which are lossless.

In the file format, include alt tags to describe the images. Alt tags make your images more accessible and assist search engine crawlers in ranking and indexing your website’s images.

10. Use Meta Tags for SEO

Meta elements are shortened tags that preview the content of a page in the source code. Robots meta tags are a type of robots.txt, and viewport meta tags tell a website browser how to display your website on mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.

11. Create Internal Links Between Pages

Internal link-building is a pillar of search engine optimization. However, that doesn’t give you free rein to link to any pages on your site. The internal links you build should make sense, creating a natural relationship.

For example, if you write a blog post about baking a cake, and you have a recipe for chocolate buttercream elsewhere on your site, you can link to that recipe in your blog post.

Internal links build out your site hierarchy and improve the user experience by guiding them to relevant content without them having to take their time to search for it.

12. Add Meta Descriptions for Each Page

Meta descriptions are an example of meta tags, a short descriptor of your blog content under 160 characters.

You should write a meta description in sentence case, inserting your keyword naturally in your summary. The tone of the description should suit the search intent, as the meta description augments your website content.

Mediaboom’s SEO website design expertise can help your company improve its rankings. Discover how our services can make a difference in your rank – book your free consultation now.

Content Optimization

Next, prioritize optimizing your content as you improve your SEO website design.

13. Perform Keyword Research

Keyword research is the heart and soul of content search engine optimization. You must select keywords relevant to your audience that align with search intent. You can use free or paid keyword search tools from SEMrush, Google Search Console, or Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.

14. Write High-Quality, Keyword-Optimized Content

Once you’ve selected the relevant keywords your audience searches for, insert them into content, including blogs, web pages, alt descriptions, and meta descriptions.

Use the keywords naturally. This is another area where it’s quality over quantity. Google and other search engines penalize websites that stuff keywords, ranking them lower. Customers also don’t like keyword stuffing, as it comes across as spammy and reduces your brand’s trustworthiness.

15. Optimize Your Website Loading Speed

The average internet user expects a mobile website to load in about eight seconds and a desktop site in under three seconds. We discussed how images can slow your loading speed, but that’s not the only element.

Using CSS and JavaScript files and overusing video content can also drag down loading speed. Revise the elements on your site that are the biggest culprits, testing your loading speed until it’s in the required timeframe.

16. Create an XML Sitemap

A sitemap tells a search engine crawler where to go by indicating the most important pages. This ensures Google doesn’t miss them when indexing your site and determining your SERP position.

You can build an XML sitemap for your site using Google Search Console. You must have all your website URLs, then code them. When you submit your map, Google will soon crawl it, so take time to get it right.

17. Follow Google’s EEAT Guidelines

Google established the EEAT guidelines for producing content. This acronym is short for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

Quality Raters, as part of the Search Quality Rater Guidelines Google employs, provide feedback on content across the internet.

Google takes this feedback to improve its algorithms, prioritizing content that meets the EEAT guidelines. Incorporate the pillars of this guideline into your content writing instructions and briefs to help your ranking.

18. Optimize for Voice Search If Necessary

Voice search is an increasingly popular trend, with more than a billion monthly voice searches. Based on your audience and their use of voice search, you could optimize your SEO website design to include it.

Keywords are more conversational when using voice search and often long-tail. You might utilize terms like “near me” more often.

19. Keep Creating High-Quality Content and Regularly Update the Site

An editorial calendar will help you plan content to publish frequently. Determine the right publishing frequency based on your audience’s needs and interests.

Some sites post daily, others twice per week, and others still up to four times a week. Don’t sacrifice quality at the expense of keeping your content calendar going.

In addition, continue updating your site, revising your SEO website design to hold your ranking.

Mediaboom’s years of experience working with businesses across many industries can help you master search engine optimization. Book a free web consultation with our experts now.

Website Promotion and User Experience

Promoting your website is the next SEO web design element to focus on, fostering a better user experience.

20. Make the Website Shareable on Social Media

Your website should have social sharing buttons for popular platforms in which you have an established presence, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. Put the buttons on your homepage and encourage your audience to share your site and its content.

21. Monitor and Analyze SEO Performance Using Tools Like Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a leading platform for reviewing the success of your search engine optimization campaign. Your SEO campaign should enhance your website visibility, although it can take months to see positive results.

Continue monitoring your SERP growth, and don’t forget to submit your website for crawling after optimizing it.

22. Foster High-Quality Backlinks from Reputable Websites in Your Industry

Reputable backlinks are a surefire way to boost your SERP position. Seek high-quality industry websites with a strong reputation and contact them for a guest blogging arrangement. That’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to generate backlinks.

Working with influencers can also produce strong backlinks, as can building a free tool or a high-quality industry resource like an infographic or whitepaper other industry professionals will often source.

Ongoing Maintenance and Improvement

Your SEO strategy paid off with a higher ranking, but your work hasn’t ended yet. Here are some search engine optimization maintenance tasks to tackle.

23. Conduct Periodic SEO Audits to Improve Overall Site Performance

Maintaining an SEO-friendly website is achievable with occasional search engine optimization audits using tools like SEMrush or Google Search Console. The audits will identify weak areas in your SEO strategy and recommend improvements and adjustments you can make.

Prioritize these issues as they arise so the next time Google crawls your website, they won’t hinder your rank and push you further down the page.

24. Implement Structured Data Markup (Schema) to Enhance Search Engine Results with Rich Snippets and Structured Information

Structured data, such as schema markups, are worth strengthening to hold your SEO rank steady. Search engines speak schema markup language, using your markup data to learn more about your web page content and categorize it accordingly. Incorporate rich data such as snippets to win the top spot for a keyword.

If you need a website design and SEO company to guide your business and help you achieve search engine optimization goals, choose Mediaboom. We’re a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO services.

Contact us today to begin planning your search engine optimization strategy.

Community Engagement and Feedback

Connecting with your online community is a valuable way to generate feedback that can bolster your SEO efforts. Here’s how.

25. Foster a Community Around Your Website

Build a social community through forums, social media interactions, or comments, connecting with these valuable individuals and soliciting their feedback. Listen to the suggestions and concerns they mention, especially recurring issues.

Implement that feedback into your SEO friendly website design to improve the user experience. For example, you might change your color scheme, downsize the video on your homepage, or delete images that slow loading speed.

Website Design and SEO Services: Why Choose Mediaboom

Mediaboom’s unerring dedication to website design and SEO services makes ours a premier choice of companies that want professional results with an impact. Here are three case studies to exemplify our high-quality service.

Qazi Clinic

The Newport Beach, California cosmetic and dermatology service Qazi Clinic sought Mediaboom’s services for a website refresh to bring in new patients.

Through our SEO, website, paid ads, and strategy, Qazi experienced a total traffic increase of more than 2,127.01 percent, an organic traffic increase of 3,496.68 percent, and over 302.75 percent more online leads.

GFI Partners

Mediaboom has assisted GFI Partners with its marketing needs for more than five years. This real estate marketing agency serving New York and San Francisco received a newly optimized website designed and implemented by us to position GFI as an industry leader.

St. Clair CPA Solutions

In St. Clair CPA Solutions’ quest to reach new clients, they selected Mediaboom for SEO, website development, copywriting, strategy, and website design services. Our work helped St. Clair increase its mobile traffic by 246 percent, organic traffic by more than 327 percent, and total traffic by 171+ percent.

Hire a Digital Marketing Agency Now

SEO website design starts with Mediaboom. Our track record of excellence speaks for itself, with long-term relationships with clients across industries and profound results. Let our expertise help your company launch its SEO-friendly website – contact us today.