Website design or SEO? Chicken or egg? It’s the same scenario time and time again. When a new project arrives to a website designer most will reassure the potential client the site will be SEO friendly. As a result, most designers get business they otherwise would not capture.
And that isn’t to say these designers are completely incompetent. The majority do understand the fundamentals of search engine optimization. But that’s where it often ends. Sure, they know unequivocally that a sites need meta data. They know to incorporate a sitemap. And they know about Google Analytics. But it’s what they don’t know which really counts.
Website Design and On-Page SEO
There are two types of optimization: on-page–also referred to as on-site–and off-page or what’s also called off-site. The two SEO methodologies must be incorporated in tandem. In other words, one cannot work without the other. And when a site is built from the ground up, it must include certain on-page elements. If these elements are missing or incomplete, the site won’t perform well in search no matter how much off-page optimization is done.
This means sites built by designers without intricate on-page knowledge won’t rank high out-of-the-box. Even if the client takes their new site to an optimization service, it will mean having to fill in those gaps and that will be costly.
Where SEO Begins
Designers who know better start to optimize a website before they lift a finger in creating the many pages. They first consider the client’s market/industry. They craft a strategy for canonicalization. And take into account several factors before, during and after testing the site. It has to be part of the site building process from its very inception.
Here’s why. Sites take a lot of time to develop. And most designers do the bare minimum for on-site SEO. But teams which provide both design and optimization services will include:
- Site Accessibility
- Content Strategy/Implementation
- Search Protocols
- Local Search
- Community Engagement
- Pay Per Click
- Link Building/Acquisition
- Social Media
Weigh the Options
Clients need to ask questions. Speak with a professional team which does both design and optimization and then to a firm which only does design. The differences will be stark. And settling for cheap SEO advice will only produce disappointing results. The bottom line is not to make the mistake of hiring one business to do work that another business will have to rework. It’s simply a waste of time and money.
If you are looking for firm who not only produces great design but does real SEO from the get-go, contact us. We’ll be happy to discuss your project and craft a site with solid on-page optimization.
