How SEO and Web Development Work Together

When you're making a website, you've got two main things to think about: catering to consumers and appeasing search engines.  

You want it to be friendly for search engines like Google, so it pops up when people look for what you're selling. But at the same time, you want it to look good and be easy for people to find what they want to buy. 

The tricky part is when you've got lots of stuff on your site. You need to find a balance between making it easy for people to use and making it good for Google.  

And here's where it gets even trickier: sometimes, there are different teams in charge of making sure the site looks good and making sure it shows up on Google.  

Even if both teams work for the same company, they might not agree on how to make the site perfect. The design team wants it to look simple and easy to use, while the SEO team wants lots of stuff on the site so Google will notice it. 

So, how do you navigate conflicting advice from both sides?   

In this article, we're going to talk about SEO and web design—what they are, how they work together, why they’re important, and how you can optimise SEO web design for your business.  

What is SEO? 

SEO, short for search engine optimisation, refers to a set of methods and strategies aimed at improving a website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher a website ranks, the more likely it is to be seen by your target audience, making it easier for them to discover your brand, content, and products. 

A typical SEO campaign involves various components, including:

• Researching keywords to understand what users are searching for. 
• Creating high-quality content that addresses users' needs and interests. 
• Engaging in social media marketing to increase visibility and reach. 
• Optimising metadata, such as titles and descriptions, to provide clear information to search engines. 
• Building backlinks from other websites to demonstrate credibility and authority. 

What is web development? 

On the other hand, web development covers everything involved in creating, launching, and keeping a website running smoothly. 

Web developers are responsible for making sure all the technical parts of a site are in tip-top shape. This includes tasks like:

• Writing code and markup languages 
• Designing and programming the website 
• Managing databases 
• Making the site work well on mobile devices 
• Publishing content and managing the site 
• Testing and fine-tuning the user experience 

Why are SEO and web development important? 

When considering web development vs, SEO, it's not about favouring one over the other as a business owner or marketing professional. 

Both are equally crucial and warrant equal attention. Here's what each contributes: 

The importance of SEO 

SEO is the key to making your website visible to potential customers.

Without it, no matter how amazing your website or products are, they'll remain hidden. 

An excellent SEO strategy ensures that your site appears in search engine results when people are looking for answers, solutions, or products. 

With different online businesses and pages, this is essential for reaching a broad audience. 

The importance of web development 

While SEO helps people find your site and encourages them to click through, web development determines the user experience once they're there. 

Without solid web development practices, the quality of your products and brand won't matter. 

Have you ever visited a website that was slow, disorganised, and confusing that you ended up just closing the tab? Yup, if your visitors experience this on your website, they'll quickly leave for a competitor's site.  

How SEO and web development work together 

When it comes to web development and SEO, they're not just equally important—they're deeply interconnected.  

Various aspects of web development can significantly impact a site's SEO performance. In fact, SEO is an integral part of constructing and maintaining a successful website, making it imperative for web developers to prioritise SEO considerations throughout the process. 

Ensuring that SEO is a central focus from the outset of web development offers numerous benefits, such as: 

Enhancing the human experience 

The quality of your website's design directly impacts your SEO ranking. Poor design can drive users away, signalling to search engines that your site isn't user-friendly.

Issues like slow load times, difficult-to-read text, or outdated design can deter engagement and hinder SEO performance.

Aligning technical, on-page, and off-page SEO efforts is essential for removing barriers to user interaction and ensuring a positive experience for both humans and search engine crawlers. 

Elevating engagement with quality visuals 

Effective web design not only establishes authority and trust with users but also influences their behaviour.

Research shows that nearly 40% of users will exit a site if they dislike its design. By presenting high-quality content within an appealing design framework, you can prolong user engagement, fostering conversions and improving SEO.

Combining compelling content with visually appealing elements encourages users to explore your site further, signalling to search engines that your site is trustworthy and deserving of higher rankings. 

Facilitating crawling and indexing 

While prioritising user needs is paramount in web design, it's also essential to consider the requirements of search engine crawlers.

Making poor design choices can inadvertently impede crawlers' ability to index your site effectively, negatively impacting SEO rankings.

Adhering to web design best practices ensures that your URLs, content, and images are formatted in a way that facilitates quick indexing by crawlers, ultimately boosting your site's visibility and rankings.  

Ultimately, the key to unlocking your website's success and enhancing your bottom line isn't about choosing between web development or SEO—it's about seamlessly integrating web development and SEO to work in tandem.  

How to create a website design that is optimised 

Enhancing your website's SEO through web development involves implementing strategies that optimise various aspects of your site. 

Here we’ll share with you some key methods you can use to elevate your site's SEO performance: 

Ensure website security 

Website security is crucial for both user trust and search engine rankings. Regularly update your web software, implement security measures like SSL and WAF, and moderate comment spam to safeguard your site from cyber threats and maintain its credibility. 

Prioritise website speed 

Search engines prioritise delivering results tied to a quality user experience. With attention spans dwindling, a slow-loading website can quickly turn visitors away. Optimise your website's speed by conducting regular speed tests, optimising images, and minimising external scripts. 

Address duplicate content 

Duplicate content can confuse search engines and waste crawl bots' time. Resolve duplicate content issues using methods like 301 redirects, Google Search Console, and canonical tags to ensure search engines prioritise the right pages. 

Monitor and resolve crawl errors 

Even well-maintained websites encounter crawl errors, which can negatively impact SEO. Stay on top of crawl errors by using tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix issues promptly, ensuring a positive user experience. 

Optimise JavaScript 

While search engines have improved in crawling JavaScript, optimising it for accessibility is still important. Implement practices like binding anchor texts within web content to associated URLs to ensure proper credit for relevancy and authority. 

Implement responsive web design 

Given the significant portion of web traffic from mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential for SEO. Implementing a responsive web design enhances user experience and positively impacts search engine rankings. 

Enhance readability 

Modern web users prefer easily digestible content. Optimise readability by keeping website designs clean and clutter-free, organising content with headings and subheadings, and incorporating ample white space, graphics, and videos for an enjoyable browsing experience. 

Balancing SEO and web development 

Building a website that's both visually appealing and optimised for search engines requires aligning your web development and SEO efforts. Encourage collaboration among your teams from the outset to ensure your website is user-friendly while also ranking well in search results. 

At Inspire Digital, we specialise in bridging the gap between SEO and design. Our team of expert web designers works closely together to create websites that not only look great but also perform exceptionally well in search engines.  

We prioritise user experience while implementing SEO best practices, ensuring your website attracts organic traffic and delivers tangible results for your business. 

Inspire Digital’s strategy and services 

With our tailored strategies and proven methodologies, we can help your website achieve higher rankings, attract more organic traffic, and ultimately, drive better results for your business.  

Let us take the guesswork out of SEO and web development, allowing you to focus on what you do best – running your business.  

Get in touch with us today to learn more about how Inspire Digital can elevate your online presence and help you achieve your digital goals.