While there is absolutely no doubt that keywords have a crucial role to play when it comes to ranking a website, according to Moz, Google’s algorithm has grown increasingly smart and now includes a number of other factors which it regards as equally—if not more—important. Today, the purpose of website design goes well beyond aesthetics and has a major impact on SERPs.
The ease with which online visitors can navigate through a website is part of the overall user experience—a vital component of an effective SEO strategy. In this blog, we’ll take a look at how web design can make or break SEO.
How Bad Design Hurts SEO
Suppose someone goes online and performs a quick search for a product or service and your website comes up on the first page. Now imagine that the first thing they see is poor web design. They can’t engage with your website due to illegible text, poor color choice, or the fact that they’re greeted by 10 popups before they can even see your webpage properly.
What happens then? Simple, they’ll return to the search engine page and go to another website. This scenario is referred to as the ‘bounce rate’ and it automatically informs Google that your website wasn’t the perfect solution for the customer and they weren’t satisfied. Naturally, you get bumped down a couple of positions and end up losing a major chunk of online visitors.
To prevent something like this from happening, avoid the following mistakes.
Reduce the Popups
Popups can be great and all, but if they’re the first thing to greet your website visitors, it can serve as a major turnoff. Use them occasionally and never before the customer has a chance to access the content. Try to build up trust with the audience before you proceed to ask them for subscription requests or personal information.
Make Sure the Text is Readable
Never opt for a font that’s either too large or small for people to read. People simply do not have the patience to decipher your message and will leave as soon as they arrive.
Speed Up the Website
While designing an attractive website, it’s easy to forget that not everyone has access to 4G or 5G internet. This means that a website consisting of large, colorful images and videos will slow down your site. According to KISSmetrics, a web page that takes longer than 2 seconds to load will be abandoned by 47% of online customers!
Aside from these steps, it’s also necessary to create great content, improve the layout, and have cross-platform functionality. Run by Dylan Satterfield, Evna Design is one of Colorado’s top-rated graphic design companies. We also offer professional website and logo design services at affordable prices. Contact us today for more information.