5 Web Design Errors that Damage SEO

We all know that the finest websites are ones that are designed not only for search engines but also for the user.

For that reason, the beauty of the website design and website function should both be considered when designing a website.

Want to see if your beautiful website design is stopping your pages from scoring high in the search engines?  Here are the five most common web design errors and how to fix them.  

Error 1: Omitted H1 Tags

Imagine browsing through a site with a beautiful background design, perfect color scheme and matching font. Visually, it looks as though everything seems to fall in place.

But as beautiful as this site might be, it may not exist to search engines. This is because website developers and designers tend to forget the most critical SEO components.

The first common mistake is to remove the H1 tag simply because there is no extra space to put it on the page.

One of the main components search engine surfers look at is the H1 tag to find what the page is all about. Therefore, having the H1 tag and your selected keywords allow your website to rank higher.

The 5-second test is an easy and convenient method that allows you to explain to website designers and website owners about how the website will benefit from the H1 tag. According to this test, if a user can easily tell what the website is about by looking at it only for 5 seconds, then its user experience is good.

The easiest way to explain the purpose of the website is by using a detailed and descriptive H1 tag above the fold.

Error 2: Large Images and Media Files

Yes, you want your website to look aesthetically pleasing, but you also need to pay attention to the size of your media files since larger images and videos slow down the speed of your website. This in turn can negatively influence the rating of your website on search engines.

If you want to find whether your website has large content images, then you can use a quick scan called the “Google Page Speed Insights Test”, which tells you what images Google thinks have large content and are not suitable to be on the webpage.

This test explains that the page performance can be enhanced if the size of the image is reduced by 70%.

Google now provides links for the optimized download images that one can use and upload onto their website.

Error 3: Popups

Google has recommended websites avoid popups. Every time a visitor browses a website and some creative popup shows up before the visitor can access the main content of the page, it can negatively affect your user experience, and therefore your SEO.

The best alternative is to reassess your pop-up strategy, particularly when you are noticing the ranking is going down for your site in the search engine.

Error 4: Text in Images

This mistake is surprisingly the most common. Many web designers tend to include text in an image rather than including a text layer over an image.

This means search engines are not able to “read” the image as your visitors can. For that reason, search engines fail to see the text on the image. It’s actually comparable to not having the text at all.

A large content image or media file may cover the majority of the space on the webpage. Due to this, the website may lose essential elements that otherwise, should be appearing on the page such as H1 tag and a subheading as they may help with regards to scoring higher correlated to their target keywords.

Error 5: Thin Content

The most important pages on your website are the service and product pages. The greater the score in relation for your target keywords, the more profit you will make. It’s as simple as that.

The following are common errors web designers make with regards to thin content:

• Not having crucial pages on the website. By deleting service and product pages from the website, you considerably decrease your chances to increase your score for your associated target keywords.
• Having a single page listing for numerous services/products. Having single keyword/idea per page makes it easier for search engines to know and figure out what each page is about and they are able to score it accordingly. Containing numerous services/products on the single page makes it confusing for the search engine to know what the page is about and the services it provides. This in turn causes the ranking of your website to go down.
• Minimum in-text on the product and service pages. Descriptive content or text helps those who visit your site to better understand more about the services and products that are offered. This increases your chances for such pages scoring higher on search engines.

It does not matter if you’re working on a new website or reconstructing an existing website; don’t forget about these essential SEO components. After all, what good is a beautiful website if nobody can find it?

Looking to redesign your website and get it to rank on Google’s page 1? Contact Edkent Media to see how we can help you.

 

 

 

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