Web Page Design
You’ve made the BIG decision to build a new website for your business!
You hire a Web Developer and meet for the first time to discuss the page design. What should be your primary concern?
- Domain name?
- Logo?
- Web Design Software?
- Colors?
- Images?
- Layout?
- Professionalism?
- Aesthetics?
If you answered “All of the above”, please keep reading. 🙂
Web Design Inspiration
Bizeeo Marketing Agency provides Web Development Services you can trust.
It’s great that you’re excited and inspired!
All of the above-listed issues are important aspects of your website design.
However, ALL web development decisions should be made with consideration for how they will impact your website’s findability on the World Wide Web.
Worded another way, your website should be “optimized” for the search engines. (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo)
This task is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
It is a process by which page content and HTML coding of your website are applied in ways that help search engine algorithms read and comprehend the meaning and purpose of your website.
More importantly, proper SEO techniques enable your website to rank well on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) for keyword searches relevant to your business, products and services.
Website Ranking
Studies indicate approximately 90% of all clicks on the SERPs occur on the first page of results.
Furthermore, the lion’s share of clicks go to the websites listed near the top of page 1. While the results of these studies vary, it is generally agreed:
- The majority of user clicks occur on page 1.
- The closer your website ranks to the top of page 1, the better your chances of being selected.
- In most cases, searchers never venture beyond page 1.
Website Builders
Honestly, anyone with minimal computer and Internet skills can build their own website.
If you can compose an email, publish a Facebook status update and drag and drop text and images, then you can probably build a DIY (do it yourself) website.
Companies like GoDaddy, Web.com and other Web Hosts spend a lot of money marketing this message.
From the GoDaddy website:
“With intuitive navigation, templates, and drag-and-drop functionality, your website will be up and running in minutes. No technical skills or coding required.”
And what they claim is true, sort of.
But GoDaddy (and other services like their’s) omit any warnings about the time, skill and expertise required to make your website searchable, or findable, on the web. Frustrating!
Please Note: Expect to be hounded by sales reps to “upgrade” your plan to improve your ranking. 🙁
Please Note Further: SEO tasks must be applied AS you design and build your website, NOT slapped on after-the-fact like icing on a cake. It simply doesn’t work that way.
Web Design Companies are Guilty, too!
Website Design Firms are also known for delivering websites with little or no SEO techniques applied.
Beware of the following sales pitch:
“All of our websites are SEO-ready (or SEO-friendly)”.
Don’t fall for it!
It is ambiguous and misleading. “SEO ready or friendly” does NOT mean that proper SEO techniques have been applied. It simply means the website is CAPABLE of being optimized.
The question is, WHO is going to do it?
In many cases, website design agencies that claim to be SEO “experts” provide absolutely NO SEO services whatsoever.
How To Build A Website
Make sure your next website is searchable and findable on the web by following these simple guidelines and principles:
- If you DIY, do your homework and learn all you can about SEO. Be prepared to spend a LOT of time on this effort alone.
- If you hire a website design firm, ask for specifics about their SEO “services”, and check with more than one provider.
- Make sure that your website is designed to rank for keywords (or search terms) relevant to your business.
- Be realistic. Choose keywords that you have a chance to rank for, as some keywords are simply too competitive. The resources needed to rank well for highly competitive keywords are often not available, depending greatly on your budget and time commitment.
- Be patient. It takes time to earn a good ranking.
- Be persistent. Maintaining a competitive ranking is an ongoing task. It is not a one-time effort.
Remember, no matter how attractive, professional, cool, trendy, or fancy your website design, it may as well be non-existent if it cannot be found by your potential or existing customers.
Contact Bizeeo and allow us to demonstrate the benefits of investing in proper SEO.
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe