The chicken or egg dilema for SEO experts goes something like this: which Comes First, Web Design or SEO?
When you are likely to consider your next web design change, you may want to consider the SEO version of the old chicken and egg question. Which comes first, web design or SEO? Both will ultimately be important. One the one hand, web design can appeal to the human eye, and get people excited about sharing links with your site. On the other hand, good search engine optimization makes it possible to find the site in the first place.
What I am going to argue is that SEO considerations need to be built in from the beginning. Web design that is "out of the box," pre-designed, or even pre conceived can make it harder to get good search engine optimization. Yes, you have to consider the architecture of the site. You have to consider how you are communicating your message, and how you will get people to respond with contact information, sales, etc. The security of your underlying code and the overall functionality of that code are all important. But all of this must be designed with SEO in mind from the very beginning.
Poorly built sites may make it hard for search engine spiders to "crawl" the site. An SEO Expert that hasn't considered "how we are going to get links" may make it harder to get people to back link. We may have designed our site; so that the best potential links spots are buried too deeply, making it hard to get people to stay that long. We may have a wrong strategy about "do follow" or "no follow" linking.
We need to take the process from a different approach. Start with developing a strategy for getting critical information to people quickly. Think from the other person's erspective. Design the site so the best "link bait" opportunities are easy to find. Follow simple, basic principles about designing content for search engine spiders. The results could be dramatically better.
As we consider the overall web design of our coming change, let's make sure we have asked and answered these types of questions:
- What does my site offer to other website designers that would make them want to link to my website?
- What does my site offer to any visitor that would make them want to share that content on their favorite social websites?
- Out of all the information that exists, that I could put on my website, what relevant information is in demand (or soon will be). Out of that type of information, what part is not being communicated well on other sites?
- How do I need to effectively keyword target that demand?
- What functionality/organization will make my site more attractive to search engines?
- How do I build ongoing SEO refinement and growth into my overall business plan?
The chicken or egg dilema for SEO Experts gets a lot easier with a little planning. A web design that is built around these guiding principles has a better chance of succeeding. It will be more easily found by search engines, and will ultimately rise in rank quicker. Further, you will get more people to want to connect to your website. This will make the job of your SEO expert much easier.
Johnny Smoes is an IT Programmer and Principle with SEO Experts Australia. The company is located in Australia, but does business world wide. He frequently writes on topics of search engine optimization, web design, and search engine marketing. You can get more information at SEO Experts Australia.com.au or Zanity.com.au.
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Quite right – SEO before web design. You need to get the punters to your site before you can impress them with the look and usability!
ReplyDeleteGood advice, think SEO from the start. Otherwise trying to SEO your site in retrospect is a bloody nightmare!
ReplyDeleteBut if you do SEO first youre attracting people to a site that isnt ready to see/use yet
ReplyDeleteBut Graham, you don't have to 'go live' until everything is ready. All this is saying is that SEO should be a consideration from the start, not an afterthought.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows the egg came first – after all, egg-laying species predate the existence of chickens. And that means SEO before web design. Which is right, I think. It works!
ReplyDeleteGood, logical thought process... I'm with Carlos. SEO FIRST!
ReplyDeleteLOL Carlos! But seriously, I think it's true that SEO needs to be considered from the start - that's much easier than trying to SEO an already exising site in retrospect... trust me!
ReplyDeleteI was going to argue that web design comes before SEO, but I bow down to Carlos' superior argument. Well done sir
ReplyDelete“The security of your underlying code and the overall functionality of that code are all important. But all of this must be designed with SEO in mind from the very beginning”.
ReplyDeleteThat’s the key bit for me. SEO first!
SEO first, definitely, makes no sense the other way around
ReplyDeleteOf course SEO comes before web design. It’s simply alphabetical!
ReplyDeleteGood answer Mr. Sheen, can't argue with that. SEO before Web Design it is!
ReplyDeleteIt will save a lot of time and effort if SEO is a consideration before you start building your site but it can't take over - nobody wants to read a page that's just a list of keywords.
ReplyDeleteFor me that's a great point Fiona, SEO should be a consideration from the start but it should always be a SECONDARY consideration after making the website interesting in content and design first
ReplyDelete"One the one hand, web design can appeal to the human eye, and get people excited about sharing links with your site. On the other hand, good search engine optimization makes it possible to find the site in the first place"
ReplyDeleteThis section, for me, actually answers the question entirely. You need people to actually FIND THE SITE before they become EXCITED ABOUT SHARING LINKS. Therefore SEO has to come before WEB DESIGN.
Done.
Good logic Jay Jay, I'll go with that. SEO first!
ReplyDeleteThe chicken came before the egg - it's all to do with evolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_and_egg#Evolution. No idea about SEO or web design though!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article, really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteSEO first, defo
ReplyDeleteSEO comes first, no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteWanted to comment on this ages ago but it was blocked. Now it's free I can't remember what I wanted to write. Never mind, eh? Interesting article anyway, keep up the good work!
ReplyDelete