Your business is growing, and it’s time to build a website for your brand. But you’re not just looking for a good-looking landing page—you want a site that attracts new clients! The key is to incorporate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices from the start. With our simple, eight tips, you’ll successfully build a website with SEO in mind!
SEO Matters From Day One
Why is it important to think of SEO from the start to the finish of your website build? Look at it this way: every web design decision you make impacts how search engines—and potential customers—find you. If you wait until the end to think about SEO, you could be stuck with a website that’s difficult to find and unappealing to users.
Building a website with SEO practices ensures your site ranks higher, attracts the right audience, and saves you the headache of fixing issues later. Thinking about the consumer experience at every touchpoint also creates a seamless journey that keeps visitors engaged and coming back.
How to Make Your Website SEO-Friendly
What if building a website is overwhelming enough without adding optimization? If you’re brand new to the SEO marketing game, we’ve got you covered with eight tips from our team of web design experts.
1. Pick the Perfect Platform (We’re Team WordPress)
Choosing the right platform from the get-go will save you time and effort. Our professional web team here at Lemonade Stand recommends WordPress, a versatile, user-friendly, and endlessly customizable platform. With thousands of themes and plugins, it offers features for businesses of all sizes, plus it’s SEO-friendly right out of the box.
2. Don’t Leave Mobile Users Hanging
Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, mobile devices have dominated global web traffic. By the end of 2024, they accounted for an impressive 62.54% of all online activity worldwide. Don’t make your potential customers pinch and zoom their way through your website! Ensure your site is mobile-responsive so users can easily access and navigate through it on any device.
3. Keep Your Site Structure Clean and Simple
We know—it’s super tempting to keep adding web pages to make your site look flashy and informative, but less is more! To build a website with SEO, stick to a clear and organized layout that makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for and for Google to crawl your site. If you have more than a few pages, consider adding submenus for easier navigation.
4. Function Over Flash—Every Time
Choose clarity and functionality over design complexity. Yes, fancy animations and flashy graphics may look cool, but if they slow down your website’s loading speed or make it difficult to read and navigate, they’re not worth it. Remember, user experience is the heart of SEO! If it’s not working well for the user, chances are it’s hurting your SEO.
5. Nail the Basics of On-Page SEO
Once you have a well-designed and functional website, it’s time to complete the on-page SEO basics. Configure the following elements to help improve your website’s search engine ranking:
- Meta Descriptions: A brief summary of a webpage that appears in search engine results. Each of your webpage meta descriptions should include relevant keywords and concisely describe the content.
- Title Tags: A concise, keyword-rich title that appears at the top of each webpage in search engine results. This is often the first thing a user sees about your webpage, so make it attention-grabbing and informative.
- Header Tags: Use header tags (H1, H2, etc.) to break up your content into sections and indicate their importance. Include keywords to make your webpage more easily scannable for search engines and users.
- Internal Linking: Add links and buttons within your content to other pages on your website. This will improve the overall structure and flow of your webpage. Plus, it can help search engines crawl and index more pages on your site.
There are a ton of other techniques and tips to optimize your webpages, but these are a great place to start. Remember, building a website with SEO is an ongoing process and requires constant monitoring and updating.
6. Speed It Up
Don’t ignore your site speed! Modern internet users have short attention spans and lack the patience to wait for a slow website to load. Compress images, eliminate unnecessary plugins and scripts, and minimize redirects. You can also use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments.
7. Make Security and Accessibility Your Superpower
To complete your website transformation, prioritize security and accessibility. Let’s avoid all your hard work from being compromised or inaccessible.
First, secure your site with HTTPS to protect user data and build trust—who doesn’t love that little padlock icon? Then, ensure your website is ADA-compliant with features like alt text, keyboard navigation, and readable fonts. This final step will make your website accessible to all users, regardless of disabilities.
8. Launch, Get Crawled, and Keep the Content Coming
Okay, you’re ready to launch the website you built with SEO! Hit that publish button and let your website hit the world! Don’t forget to submit your sitemap to search engines like Google and Bing to ensure your site is crawled and indexed—otherwise, it might take a while for your website to appear in search results.
Once your website is live, it’s important to keep the content coming. Regularly updating your website with new and relevant content will keep your audience happy and engaged and improve your search engine ranking. Add blog articles, how-to videos, infographics, and more to showcase your expertise and keep your audience coming back for more.
Create A Conversion-Ready Website With Lemonade Stand!
Does building a website with SEO seem too hard to do on your own? What if we told you that Lemonade Stand’s awesome team of experts can help you create your dream conversion-ready website in no time?
Building a website from scratch can be crazy hard, especially if you’re not familiar with SEO and other technical aspects. Luckily, our web design professionals have years of experience converting visitors into clients! Plus, we’ll key into your brand to personalize every aspect of your site. Reach out today to get started!
