A good website does more than convince visitors to convert into loyal consumers. It also convinces Google and other search engines to award it the best rankings on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Success in web design requires thinking about both the user and the search engines. That means you should never sacrifice function over beauty or vice versa. Even the simplest design mistake can prevent you from ranking high on the SERPs.
But how do you know if your beautiful design is affecting your SEO ranking chances?
Website design experts in Jupiter, Florida recommend checking your website for the following common design mistakes.
Large Images & Media Files
High-quality imagery makes your website look more interesting. As beautiful as these images are, however, be mindful of their sizes. Including large media files, such as high-resolution photos and videos, can negatively impact your site’s loading speed.
Google is a fan of websites with quick loading pages. If your website takes too long to load, it won’t earn the search engine’s favor.
Identify the offending media files with Google’s PageSpeed Insights Test. This test will reveal large-sized images. Once you’ve determined which photos are bogging your site load speed down, resize or compress them. Then, re-upload them to your website.
Intrusive Pop-ups
Google prioritizes user experience above anything else. So, when a pop-up disturbs your visitors’ content browsing, it affects your website’s user experience (UX), and therefore, your SEO rankings.
Google warned websites against using intrusive pop-ups. According to the search engine giant, these page displays cover the main content, which makes it less accessible to visitors.
Don’t let bad UX affect your site’s rankings. Reassess your current pop-up strategy, especially if there is a decline in your organic traffic.
Infinite Scroll
This popular web design technique loads more content as the user scrolls to the bottom of the page. Incorrect set-up of pagination, however, might keep search engines from crawling your web pages properly. It also affects your page performance, since the browser has to exert more effort to render a page.
Fortunately, it’s possible to make infinite scroll pages search engine-friendly. Google’s Webmaster blog offers a few recommendations.
Whether you’re building a new website or redesigning your current one, steer clear from these design mistakes to improve your SEO. Remember: a beautiful and functional website will go to waste if nobody can find it on the SERPs.
