Developing a website can be compared to building a house: if it has a weak foundation then it won’t be stable. Some groundwork must be done if you want to live in it. For websites, the groundwork is search engine optimization (SEO).
When you’re developing a website, regardless of whether it is a full redesign or an update, then you must think of SEO. Here’s why:
- it will save you a lot of time
- it will earn you a higher ranking
- it will give you more traffic plus it will make you lots of money
To help you enjoy these benefits Ivan Konovalov, the Customer Success manager of Semalt, has made a List of SEO points you should consider when developing and designing your company’s website.
1. Site architecture and link creation
Using the house analogy, you’ll notice that it has lots of parts. For example, you got plumbing, the furniture, the insulation, landscaping, the paintwork and the list goes on. All these must work together to create a usable space. The same is applicable to your website – it must be rearranged in a logical manner. Now this is what site architecture takes care of. Interlinking on the other hand ensures that all related pages of your website can be accessed.
2. Crawlability
Google and other search engines crawl through your webpages and then index them. Whether you opt for XML, AJAX, Flash or JavaScript make sure that the content is dynamic. You are discouraged from using AJAX as pages coded using this coding language are notoriously difficult to crawl and subsequently index. Double check your website’s robots.txt files for mistakes.
3. Functionality
Your website’s sole purpose is to sell your brand. Every feature should help to serve this purpose. Whether it is a checkout menu, catalogue or whatever you can think of. Ensure that nothing compromises the website’s functionality so be on the look out for broken links and other errors during the web development stage. Whenever you decide to redesign your website, ensure that the new version of you site is hosted on a separate ‘dev’ server. Never attempt to make live changes. You could lose thousands of dollars.
4. Mobile-friendly design
The speed your webpages load goes hand in hand with mobile friendliness. As such, they must be given a high priority. The best thing about it is that both can be done during the development stages of your website. Spare your clients the agony of slow-loading webpages. Find the way to test the scrips and stylesheets. Don’t forget to defer loading of JavaScript. This ensures your website will run smoothly. Dedicate time for a proper Conversion Rate Optimization tactic. Your performance indicators and analytics should guide you. Don’t forget a call-to-action tab on your homepage.
5. Speed and user experience
With approximately 60% of organic searches being made on mobile devices its crucial that you incorporate a ‘mobile-friendly’ design. This can be anything from compressing image files to boosting speed. If your website can be accessed on all devices, then you are good to go.
