Getting a website is the first step in your online presence. When you decide to hire a company to design one for you, you might not be thinking of a search engine optimisation campaign yet and that's ok. Every business has to start somewhere. However, even if you don't intend to get involved in a more complex Internet marketing strategy further on, it's always best to make sure your website is suitable for one because sites created with marketing in mind bring a much better ROI than websites without one. It's simply a good business decision.
Search Engine Marketing Vision
Creating a web site by search engine marketing standards means that your website is not only accessible and suitable for search engines but also for your users. Such websites are appealing, the marketing copy is crisp and clear, they are easy and comforting to navigate, they communicate easily to your audience and create the perfect environment to turn visitors into leads and leads into customers.
You may not be totally convinced by the above statement so here is a well known example. One of the factors that led to the dot com crash in 2000 was poor website usability. Many dot com web sites were so complicated to use, were so unfriendly that they alienated users from doing business with them. Even colour scheme can influence the mood and actions of users. All these small details pertain not just to design, but more so to Internet marketing practice.
By having a SEO oriented website you will already be making a return on your investment, even before you might become interested into a complex strategy. A website designed with marketing in mind gives you a taster of the ROI and profit a full blown scale strategy might produce. For small businesses, the basic marketing performance of the website might be enough.
Performance of a Well Designed Site in Search Engines
The advantage of search engine marketing in the design process is that such websites contain the basic ingredients for good performance in search engines. The World Wide Web Consortium recommends design guidelines for websites with the objective of making websites better and easier to use.
Search engines not only aim to return web pages with useful information to users but sites that are overall good for them. That is why a business website properly constructed, standard compliant, user-friendly, attractive and communicative performs so well in search engines. These are the basic factors taken in consideration by search engines in their ranking process.
As a user you have probably come across websites that were unfriendly and difficult to navigate. And like the rest of us, you probably decided it's not worth the hassle and moved on to the next result. That is why for users (people such as yourself) and for search engines, a well designed website is very important.
Fast Forward to the Future
We've established the advantages of a well designed website. Now let's assume that you're not entirely convinced and decide to hire a company or a friend who designs a fancy, trendy website, with a flash intro, flash menu, lots of graphics etc. The website looks smashing to look at but its functionality is fairly limited.
Now let's assume that in 6 months or a year's time you decide to hire a search engine optimisation company for a more complex marketing strategy. You will see that the first thing that company tells you is that elements on your website have to be changed in order to make it friendly for users and search engines. At that moment in time you will have to invest in your website again. Don't give yourself a reason to dip into your pocket twice. Make sure your website is properly designed in the first place.
Ensuring Your Website Is Properly Designed
Now that you're finally convinced of the necessity of a well designed website here are a few tips on actually getting it.
First thing to do is to search for something using search engines. Search for something that is of interest to you, preferably information. Browse through the first 10-20 results and analyse them. Don't analyse the sites as if they were jewelry. Websites are not meant to be beautiful, they are meant to be functional. Every time you click on a result ask yourself the following questions:
- How quickly does it load? How quickly can you see the information?
- How fast can you figure out whether the information you're looking for is on that page or not?
- How long does it take you to figure out what other information there is on the site and where to go from there?
- Is the text easily readable? Is there a comforting contrast between the colour of the text and that of the background?
The answer to all these questions make users subconsciously decide whether to stay or to go.
Getting a Company to Design Your Website
The first idea that pops in your mind is to hire a web design company. However, not all of them are aware of the necessary implementations for a marketing oriented website. There is also the risk that when you do decide to hire a search engine optimisation company, the different principles will be in direct conflict and you will have to take more money out of your pocket to fix the site (enough with paying twice!). That is not to say that design companies can't do a good job, just make sure you shop around and make sure they know the requirements.
The other option would be to actually have a SEO company design a website for you or recommend a suitable web designer for you. They usually have in-house designers that blend appealing design with essential search engine marketing elements. That also gives you the chance to get to know the company and, should you wish to, set the basis for a long term relationship.
Website Design - A Key Part of Search Engine Marketing
This article was first published on 08 August 2004 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.
