The Internet is an intensely competitive global marketplace, no matter what sector you work in.
In their efforts to stay ahead, many companies wisely invest significant amounts of money in search engine optimisation (SEO).
Content is an important aspect of any SEO strategy, so large volumes of this are produced, alongside social media campaigns and PPC advertising.
But too often, the actual design of a website is overlooked in the scramble to get ahead.
Effective web design is crucial for a number of reasons, and many businesses could experience a massive uplift in their online fortunes simply by taking a long, hard look at their site and making some simple changes to their designs.
Why is web design so important? Web design is about much more than simple aesthetics and visual style.
It can and will have a massive influence on the behaviour of your visitors, so it's important to consider the effect that each aspect of your design will have.
In addition to this, today's modern search engines such as Google and Bing pay close attention to the design of your site when calculating its value for their users, and consequently where it will rank in their results pages.
Usability should be a central concern when designing or redesigning your website.
If users cannot navigate your site easily, they are unlikely to return.
But if you can provide them with an intuitive and effortless experience then they are more likely to purchase your products/ use your services, and return in future.
Here are a few ways in which you can optimise your web design for search engines and human users:
In their efforts to stay ahead, many companies wisely invest significant amounts of money in search engine optimisation (SEO).
Content is an important aspect of any SEO strategy, so large volumes of this are produced, alongside social media campaigns and PPC advertising.
But too often, the actual design of a website is overlooked in the scramble to get ahead.
Effective web design is crucial for a number of reasons, and many businesses could experience a massive uplift in their online fortunes simply by taking a long, hard look at their site and making some simple changes to their designs.
Why is web design so important? Web design is about much more than simple aesthetics and visual style.
It can and will have a massive influence on the behaviour of your visitors, so it's important to consider the effect that each aspect of your design will have.
In addition to this, today's modern search engines such as Google and Bing pay close attention to the design of your site when calculating its value for their users, and consequently where it will rank in their results pages.
Usability should be a central concern when designing or redesigning your website.
If users cannot navigate your site easily, they are unlikely to return.
But if you can provide them with an intuitive and effortless experience then they are more likely to purchase your products/ use your services, and return in future.
Here are a few ways in which you can optimise your web design for search engines and human users:
- Think about the 'path' users take from any specific landing page to the action you wish them to carry out.
Minimise the number of clicks needed to get from point A to point B - Keep your design simple and user-friendly
- Avoid using pages with particularly long chunks of text - people rarely read them
- Aim for fast load times.
Bear in mind that not everyone has a light-speed broadband connection, and that web users can be impatient.
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