Building websites which appeal to people and search engines

How many times have we seen a website which ranks top on google but looks mediocre at best.

You wonder how it even made it to the top of the list.

And then there are websites which have high-quality content and look beautiful but you had to scroll several pages until you discovered them.

In this post, we will discuss how to build a website which looks great and also ranks high on search engines.

Before we start, let us list down key ingredients for both.

#1 Design

Design is an element which you cannot ignore. Audience focus time spans are lesser than ever.

You have to make a first impression with a sleek, clutter-free design which is easy to understand and pleasing on the eye.

After all, who wants to spend time and take effort to discover what you do, when they don’t like what they see.

While design depends on individual taste and preferences, here are few resources which will help you discover latest trends in web design and also what type of design will suit your industry.

#2 Content

Content is the most important element of your website.

It is important to communicate whatever you have to say in a concise manner and in a language which your audience understands.

Use minimum jargon and more visual content, as attention spans are lower than ever.

#3 Write for Action

Each and every content piece on your website should have appropriate call-to-action.

The whole point of creating content is to draw engagement and invoke an almost impulsive resultant action from your readers.

Your call-to-action could be navigating to a relevant section of the site, filling up a form, watching a video or downloading a collateral.

The action itself would guide the flow of your content and help your audience discover more of what you do.

#4 SEO Hygiene

There are zillions of articles on the internet which talk about 101 things you should do to optimize your website.

I will just speak about the three most important ones.

On Page SEO, Off Page SEO and Link Building

On page content should be written keeping the audience in mind, but you have to strategically use keywords so as to emphasize its relevance for search engines.

I’m not saying force fit keywords but use it wisely so that its relevant both for the audience and search engines.

Using Meta Tags, Titles, Schemas, Image Attributes, etc. are a given. Though it may sound basic, I have seen so many people not do the basics and frantically keep generating more content.

Link Building is another important aspect which you should invest in strategically. Most SEO agencies create 10s and 100s of backlinks on a daily basis. But most of them turn out to be on low authority domains with low-quality content.

You can have an edge by creating high-quality content on high domain authority sites.

Start an alternate blog channel on LinkedIn, Blogger, Weebly, etc. and backlink to your primary domain. You will be surprised at the kind of results you will see in the long run.

#5 Have an Active Blog and Social Feed

Whether we like it or not, social engagement drives the perception of brands these days.

Having an active blog channel and subsequent engagement on social channels provides a validation for your content and brand.

And I’m not saying just keep it active for the sake of it.

You should have something meaningful to say which is appreciated by your target audience.

The Bottomline

It is imperative to have a strategy which takes into account both people and machines (search engines)

If you have a great looking website but is not discoverable on search engines, you will have few takers of your great work.

On the other hand, if you always rank top of Google but have below average design or content, you will have lower conversions.

Marrying the two will go long way in you achieving your business goals.

Are you able to strike a balance between the two?

Let me know in the comments section below.