Why Website Design and Code Matters for SEO

Post on 17-Jan-2017

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Transcript of Why Website Design and Code Matters for SEO

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Website Design, Code, and SEOWhat we’ll discuss…

• What code matters to Google?• How design and user experience (UX) affect

SEO• Mobilegeddon, mobilepocalypse, or

mobiletopia• How to keep your design FRESH!

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Which code matters?TITLE TAG

• Unique title tag that describes page content. • These signal what the page is about.• 55 characters seems to be about the average.

These aren’t silver bullets, but they do matter.

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Which code matters?HEADING TAGS (H1, H2, H3)

These tags work as indicators of context:

• What is this page about? H1• What is this section about? H2, H3, H4

Your webmaster can preset these for you.

Use keywords but make sure it makes sense to the reader.

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Which code matters?META DESCRIPTIONS

• No effect on ranking but can be your pitch. • Should describe the page to encourage a click.• With a CMS, you can easily manage these.

I did a search for Italian Restaurants in Google.

There are more like ALT tags and link titles. Check schema.org for more.

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Design, UX, and SEO?KISSmetrics* says effective UX means you:

1. Help visitors take the first step.2. Avoid information overload.3. Lead the way for your customers.4. Watch your visitors.

Reduce bounce rate and improve time on site.

Don’t confuse them; lead them!

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Lessons from LA StoryThe Marilu Henner LA Story Mirror Trick:

Look at any of your website pages… • First things you see?• How many tasks are there?• What can be taken out?

What are the website goals? • Does this page supports those goals?• What’s the page goal?• Is this clear?

Remove anything that gets in the way of good UX/action.

Source - cinema.de

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

What about Tablets, Mobile Devices?

Mobilegeddon anyone?!?

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

What about Tablets, Mobile Devices?

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

So Fresh and So CleanHow much of your site do you control?…

• Do you have a CMS, like WordPress?• Can you change calls to action?• Can you change navigation?• Can you keep it interesting?

Your site’s design is only as good as the content it contains!

Make sure you can control that content to keep the design fresh!

Source: RollingStone.com

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Summary1. Focus on the code that matters

2. Design and user experience means more engagement,

better SEO

3. Don’t forget about mobile users!

4. Keep it fresh and interesting!

@woodstreetweb@jonmikelbaileywww.woodstreet.com

Questions???Suggested resources:

• www.woodstreet.com• www.designdepot.com• www.sherpablog.com• www.givegoodux.com• www.kissmetrics.com• www.uxbooth.com

Contact me/us:

• www.woodstreet.com• jbailey@woodst.com• @woodstreetweb• @jonmikelbailey• Facebook.com/woodstreetweb• 301.668.5006 x101