above the fold (design)
Good SEO Won't Save a Bad Website
posted by: Guest Author - 02.17.2012SEO and web design should work together to first drive traffic and then increase conversions. Capes optional.
Bacon and eggs. Batman and Robin. Bread and butter. Some things are just meant to go together. But what about SEO and web design?
In your eagerness to get your company to the top of the search engines, you may have overlooked one of the key aspects of a successful SEO campaign. Without a website that really works, any boost in exposure for your business or increase in traffic to your site generated by search engine optimisation could prove useless. Read on for a few of the most common problems which could mean that your website is having an adverse effect on your SEO.
"Yuck, what a website!"
A poorly designed website can be one hurdle which your SEO campaign is unable to overcome. However high up your company, brand or product is sitting in the search engine rankings, your website still has an important role to play when it comes to encouraging visitors to remain on your site for longer than a few seconds. If you are sitting at or near the top of the Google tree but are suffering from an unusually high bounce rate, it may be time to take a look at your design.
Poor graphics, an unattractive colour scheme, little or no visual interest; these are all factors which could prove to be a big turn off for visitors to your website. Consider how unique, creative websites catch your own eye when you are browsing, and then consider whether your site is matching up to this good-looking competition.
If it's Broken, Fix it
Broken links will not only have a negative impact on your SEO standings, but they also make for a frustrating browsing experience for visitors to your site. If a potential customer has reached your website but is unable to access the information they are looking for thanks to a pesky 404 error page, you can pretty much say goodbye to them, and their business.
A website which really works gives a much more professional impression, and makes for a more enjoyable browsing experience. Make sure that your site is free of these broken links and you will soon see your SEO begin to pick up.
Stuck in the Past
Your website is a great place to advertise your latest offers and great deals, but don't forget to remove these from your site once they have expired. Out of date content makes your website look poorly maintained, and gives the impression that you don't care about your site -- not really the image you want to portray.
Your visitors will love to have an up-to-date news article or new piece of text to read when visiting your site, and Google shares this love for fresh content. This is why remaining proactive and regularly updating your site content can really give your SEO a boost.
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Congratulations! Your SEO campaign has seen your position in the search engines rocket, and you even have a fancy looking website to match. But, hang on a minute, where are your friends? People love your site and your business, so give them a way to share this love. Failing to take advantage of social media can have a negative impact on SEO, so make some social signals and install Twitter and Facebook widgets on your site to give visitors an opportunity to spread the word.
Don't overlook your website when you are aiming for SEO success: a creative and functional site could be your SEO campaign's best friend. Make sure that the visitors you gain from the search engines can enjoy a rewarding and user-friendly browsing experience, and you are sure to see a boost in your business.
This guest post was written by Hayley Francis. Hayley is a web writer for a UK-based company that combines creative and user-friendly web design with a highly-effective SEO campaign to give its clients a real boost. Their range of SEO services include Internet Marketing, Social Media and PPC.
Image by Jack Tempest and licensed through Creative Commons.
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