Having a website is essential for businesses. However, it's not enough to just have an online presence. It's necessary to also make sure that your website is easy to find and navigate for customers.
This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes in. One critical factor that affect SEO is the design of your website.
Choosing an SEO-friendly design template can make a huge impact on your website's visibility and ranking in search engines. Let's dig into the best ways to choose website design templates that are SEO friendly.
Think about SEO before launching a website
There are several reasons why you should have SEO in mind before even picking the best website builder (opens in new tab) or web hosting (opens in new tab) service to begin creating your website.
Establishing a strong foundation - By prioritizing SEO before launching your website, you can establish a strong foundation for your online presence. This can include implementing the right keywords, optimizing your content, and building a user-friendly website structure. By doing this before your website is launched, you can increase your chances of ranking well on search engines like Google and Bing, making it easier for potential customers to find your business online.
Building brand awareness - When you launch a new website, it can take some time for people to discover it. By taking SEO into account beforehand, you can start building brand awareness early on. This can include creating a content strategy that highlights your unique value proposition and target audience, as well as building backlinks from other reputable websites to boost your credibility. By doing this, you can start building your online reputation and increase your chances of being seen by potential customers.
Saving time and money - SEO can take time to see results, so it's important to start early. When you prioritize SEO before launching your website, you can save time and money in the long run. By identifying the right keywords and optimizing your content beforehand, you can avoid having to make major changes down the line, which can be costly and time-consuming. Also, by building a strong online presence early on, you can avoid having to invest in paid advertising in the future.
Staying ahead of the competition - SEO is a competitive landscape, and staying ahead of the competition requires staying up to date with the latest trends and best practices. By prioritizing SEO before launching your website, you can stay ahead of the competition and ensure that your website is optimized for the latest search engine algorithms. This can include staying on top of changes to Google's algorithm and adapting your content strategy accordingly.
Creating a better user experience - SEO isn't just about ranking high on search engines, it's also about creating a better user experience for your visitors. By optimizing your website for SEO before launch, you can ensure that your website is easy to navigate and provides valuable content. This can drive increased engagement and conversions, ultimately leading to more business for your company.
Choose a template that will improve SEO
Google core web vitals and other tools that monitor your page experience
If you haven't heard about Google's Core Web Vitals, you should start paying attention as Google is using it as a ranking factor. Core Web Vitals (opens in new tab) are a set of metrics that measure the user experience of your website. It brings together three key aspects of user experience; loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. You can use online tools to analyze your website's core web vitals, such as Google's PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and Pingdom.
Mobile-friendly designs
Mobile devices now make up the majority of web traffic, and Google has started favoring websites that provide a good mobile experience. As a result, it's no longer a choice to create a mobile-friendly website; it's a necessity. You should choose an SEO-friendly website template that provides a responsive layout that is optimized for mobile devices. The template should adjust to the size of the screen and provide the user with a seamless experience, regardless of the device they use.
Responsive
A responsive website is essential if you want to be successful online. A responsive design ensures your website is visually appealing, regardless of the size of the screen. You don't want anything to look distorted or out of place when viewed on different devices. An SEO-friendly website template should have a responsive design that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes.
Optimized headers and tags
Search engines crawl websites starting from the header tags, so it's essential to have properly optimized header tags such as H1, H2, H3, etc. A template should have pre-made header tags that you can use in optimizing your content. Optimizing your headers makes it easier for search engines to understand the hierarchy and structure of your website.
Alt text, layout, images, etc.
Images play a key role in enhancing the user experience of your website. However, to ensure they don't negatively affect your SEO, you need to optimize them correctly. An SEO-friendly website template should have a layout that supports optimized images. Also, you should choose a template that enables you to add Alt text, which is an essential element for image optimization. Alt text allows search engines to understand the content of the image and helps with increasing website visibility.
Website structure
A well-structured website is another important element of an SEO-friendly website. A well-structured website helps users find the required information more easily and helps search engines index your website more effectively. Choose a template that has a clear and intuitive website structure that includes a sitemap, breadcrumbs, and clear navigation.
Templates that are the best for improving SEO
Schema by MyThemeShop
Schema is one of the best WordPress themes (opens in new tab) that has been specifically designed to boost your website's SEO. It includes rich snippets, which allow search engines to better understand your website's content. Also, Schema has a clean and responsive design, making it user-friendly for both desktop and mobile users.
Astra Pro
Astra Pro is another versatile WordPress theme that has gained popularity for its flexibility and speed. It comes with a built-in schema markup feature for better SEO, as well as pre-designed templates for various types of websites. Astra Pro has a fast loading time, making it an ideal choice for businesses that want to improve their website's performance and UX.
Divi by Elegant Themes
Divi is a popular WordPress theme that offers a drag-and-drop visual builder, making it easy to customize your website without any coding knowledge. It comes with pre-designed templates for different types of websites, including ecommerce, portfolios, and blogs. Divi also offers responsive design and built-in SEO features for improved website ranking.
Avada by ThemeFusion
Avada is a multipurpose WordPress theme that has been built with SEO in mind. It offers customizable headers and footers, as well as pre-designed templates for different types of websites. Avada also comes with a wide range of customization options, allowing you to create a unique look for your website. Its fast loading time and responsive design also make it an excellent choice for improved website performance.
Salient by ThemeNectar
Salient is a sleek and modern WordPress theme that offers SEO-friendly features such as clean code, fast load times, and responsive design. It comes with pre-designed templates for different types of websites, including portfolios, e-commerce, and business websites. Salient also offers a variety of customization options, such as custom fonts, colors, and background images.
Final thought
Choosing a design template that’s SEO-friendly is no longer optional if you want your website to rank highly on search engines.
By ensuring the template incorporates the factors we have mentioned above, you will increase your chances of ranking highly, which can result in significant website traffic and improved conversions.
Remember that your website’s design is one of the key factors in SEO, so opt for a design that’s sleek, easy navigation, fast, and mobile-friendly.
- Here's a list of the best website design services (opens in new tab) should you need a helping hand with your site
