Your SEO and WebDesign Experts

Getting your website to the top of a competitive Google search can be a bit like scaling a mountain — challenging but ultimately extremely worthwhile.

Search engine optimization is such a powerful marketing acquisition channel because it turns the countless relevant Google searches made about your industry into leads. We say that effective SEO is still such a dominant lead generation strategy that if you can only afford one marketing tactic, it’s still your best bet for maximum ROI. Google is the place where your customers go when they want answers – and when you dominate a local or national search for your keyword, you are that answer. That’s why SEO matters.

While SEO may be incredibly powerful, it’s also a highly complex tool to leverage — and we acknowledge that as a master SEO agency. While there are hundreds of factors that play into rankings in a Google search, today we’re highlighting what we see as the single most important part of SEO. Whether this blog is the tool that kickstarts your personal SEO education, a metric to evaluate your current SEO agency, or the final straw that convinces you to trust an expert guide to help you reach the summit, we’re glad to help!

 

The #1 Google Ranking Factor

So with near endless factors to learn and to leverage, where do you start? At WebTek, we say the most important parts of SEO and the most important Google ranking factors are the webpage titles and heading tags. Titles represent the prime real estate of any website – they are your best chance to tell Google exactly what your website or webpage is all about. Make sure you use them – and use them well!

When the “spiders” that power Google’s algorithm evaluate your website to determine where it should rank and for what keywords, titles and heading tags are some of the first data they check out. Make 100% sure your most important keywords are there, front and center.

Here’s what your page title looks like as seen in the Google search:

 

This is what a heading tag looks like on a webpage:

 

So, how do you know if this #1 Google ranking factor is doing your business any favors – or if it’s letting you down? Well, that differs from industry to industry and even site to site. However, what is constant is that in order to take advantage of the most important part of the SEO landscape, you need to have the right keywords there, working to get your website found by the searchers that haven’t heard of you yet – but are your perfect customer!

In order to feel the benefit from this Google ranking factor, you need to know the most relevant and most valuable keywords for your area. That’s the foundation step of any digital marketing or SEO campaign we perform for a client.

Request a free SEO audit from our digital marketing experts.

3 Other Key SEO

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Most people research a lot before making a purchase online. Google or any search engine offers reviews and all relevant information significant to the buyer’s decision-making.

So as a company or seller, you need to invest in strengthening your brand’s online presence, while providing your users with all the relevant information to attract, engage, and convert them into loyal customers.

For your business to appear in the first few results of the search results, you need a strong SEO plan. SEO professionals collaborate with web designers, developers, and other experts to ensure that your site ranks at the top of the search results.

In this article, we will explore the importance of SEO in web design and how it will help your business to enhance online visibility, generate leads and increase sales.

What is SEO Web Design?

SEO web design is the process of designing and developing a website that is optimized for both search engines and users. An SEO friendly website should have a responsive design, a good site structure, unique content, and should be easy to navigate.  

We know, in today’s world, online presence is essential, however for your business to succeed, your website must rank in search engine results when users search for keywords related to your business.

When people perform online searches, websites that do not show on the top of the search engine results are deemed non-existent by the users. This is why you must focus on ensuring that your site tops the list for targeted keywords. An SEO friendly website is vital to rank well in search engines.

SEO encompasses a wide range of criteria and is crucial to web design.

6 Reasons Why SEO is Important in Web Design

1. SEO web design attracts more organic traffic

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SEO website design will help you attract more organic traffic to your site. By creating a well-designed website that is easy to navigate and search through, you will increase your chances of ranking at the top for your desired keywords.

An optimized website will help your business attract more visitors from search engines who are more likely to convert into customers.

Getting high-intent traffic is arguably more important than other types of traffic as it has a higher chance of converting. That is why you should prioritize optimizing your website to increase search engine rankings and drive more organic traffic.

2. SEO web design drives more conversions

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The main goal of your website is to attract potential customers. However, you need to be ready for the next step as well, i.e., to convert them into sales.

An SEO-optimized web design ensures that the website is optimized for conversion.

When your site finally starts drawing high-quality traffic, SEO web design will make sure that the user can take the desired action like signing up or making a purchase effortlessly without any challenges.

SEO web design is also invested in micro-conversions. Each action, no matter how small it is, comprises micro-conversions, including clicking a link, …

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If you’re looking for a website designer, you’ll likely find lots of options with different packages, styles, price ranges, and more. I’ve been told that it can be a frustrating and sometimes confusing process. One of my goals is to keep everything as simple and straightforward as possible. Whether you’re thinking of hiring us, or another company, this article is meant to help you choose the best web designer for your business.

Here are some questions that you can ask a web designer before you book.

1. CAN WE TALK BEFORE I COMMIT?

I talk to every client before I send a proposal. Calls are around 15 minutes and this lets us answer questions, set expectations, and make sure we’re a good fit.

2. WILL YOU SHARE EXAMPLES OF WORK THAT YOU’VE COMPLETED FOR A PROJECT SIMILAR TO MINE?

Ask to see actual websites, not just images in the website designer’s portfolio. It’s a bonus if the designer understands your field and has produced websites for other similar businesses. However, it’s okay if they can show you work in another industry that has similar features or style to what you are looking for.

3. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE PROCESS OF HOW THE PROJECT WILL GO?

This one is so important. You want to work with a web design who has a plan in place, and systems for staying organized throughout the project. We have a break our projects into 4 phases, with built in points for feedback. On the backend, there are checklists and processes that we go through for every project.

4. HOW MUCH INPUT WILL I GET?

Especially if you are someone that likes to have a lot of say in how your website will look, this is a key question to ask. Every designer works differently, so make sure the level of involvement is what you need. If you prefer to be hands off, definitely communicate this in that first phone call. The same goes if you know you are going to have very detailed changes and strong opinions. Either option is fine, but it’s something to keep in mind and make sure your teaming up with someone who gets this.

5. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE WEBSITE IS DESIGNED AND LAUNCHED?

Some website designers require hosting and maintenance with them, and you must go through the designer for any changes. Others just hand you the website and then don’t offer any support. We fall in the middle. We have a preferred host we recommend, but don’t require. We offer maintenance plans and hourly website updates, as needed. What is really important to us is training each client though, to be able to understand the website and make small tweaks.

What else to think about when deciding to have a professional design your website, and in choosing the right designer.

There are two other things I find important. The first is just if you feel comfortable with the person or team you are hiring. Make sure all the …

There’s a certain feeling of creative refreshment that arises when taking on a new project. You’re moving away from the status quo to tackle unique design problems and produce original work that you can be proud of. This shift can be reinvigorating for your team’s morale and can help you grow your expertise as a designer or developer.

Despite these benefits, new projects can quickly unravel if you aren’t adequately prepared from the start. You need to be armed with the right information to deliver appropriate and effective solutions for your clients — and gathering that information should be your top priority when working with a new client.

As much as this first interaction is a chance for you to get to know your client on a personal level, it’s important to use this opportunity to gather the specifics that will drive the project in the right direction. This means using your initial meeting to ask the right questions, which will help you write your project design brief, smooth out your workflow, and deliver a final product that wows your client.

To help you get started, here are five of the most important questions you should ask when meeting with your newest client.

1. Why are we doing this project?

Clients will often come to you with a solution already envisioned and say something like, ”we need you to create a new landing page to promote our new product launch.” But let’s be honest for a second, clients don’t always know what is best for them. It’s your job as a design or development consultant to provide strategic input and advice that will lead to the most appropriate solution for their needs — not simply accept what they suggest.

Begin by taking a step back from what they’re proposing, and try to identify the specific business or design problem they are trying to solve. Try to outline your client’s existing pain points and budding opportunities. This may lead you to discover alternative solutions more suitable for accomplishing their goals.

By starting your project with a deeper understanding of your client’s motivations, you’ll be in a better position to provide a service that actually helps their business, rather than just designing something that looks good but functions poorly.

And to help with your design mockups, check out our list of funny lorem ipsum generators.

2. Who will be using your website?

Design is a subjective experience — some users will love your website, while others detest it. Because of this unavoidable subjectivity, it’s critical that you develop a strong understanding of your client’s target audience.

Take the time to ask your client who their ideal users are before starting to work. This insight can be invaluable and help inform your content and design decisions, ultimately helping you build a comfortable, familiar, and fluid experience for their users.

Your client’s answers can also help you when drafting web copy. They’ll allow you to identify the ideal voice, tone, and language you …

Poorly designed websites are not just eyesores; they often cause high bounce rates and result in fewer business leads, directly impacting a business’s bottom line. That’s why successful organizations turn to skilled web designers to keep their visitors engaged. If you have a good eye for how a website should look, you might want to learn how to become a web designer.

When you choose a career as a web designer, you help businesses solve problems and generate more revenue. But what’s in it for you? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), you’ll have 8% job growth over the next 10 years and a high salary, for starters. If a creative job in a growing and lucrative field interests you, find out how to begin your web design career.

What Is a Web Designer?

A web designer is an IT professional who is responsible for designing the layout and interface of websites. Users interact with a web designer’s work as soon as they enter a website. Web design includes the graphics, text font, colors, icons, and presentation of the content that creates the user experience. A web designer is not to be confused with a web developer, whose role focuses on the back-end development and functionality of websites.

What Does a Web Designer Do?

Web designers harness their creative and technical skills with the ultimate goal of enhancing a site’s user experience. A web designer could spend a morning fixing an unattractive header and an afternoon resizing a pesky image that’s slowing down a site. They might utilize WordPress, HubSpot, Dreamweaver, or other popular web design platforms and work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create and improve a site’s front end.

The day-to-day duties of a web designer might include:

• Designing website layouts, templates, and navigation tailored to clients’ needs.
• Designing interfaces that help drive leads for clients.
• Discussing interface design options with clients.
• Working with graphics and optimizing images.
• Ensuring that webpages are compatible with desktop, tablet, and mobile platforms.
• Producing design features that can be used in social media and other marketing channels.
• Maintaining and updating websites.

Web designers typically work in web marketing agencies, directly for businesses, or on a freelance basis. To get an idea of what to expect from a position as a web designer, take a look at Monster’s sample web designer job listing.

How to Become a Web Designer

Nobody can just become a web designer on a whim; you have to learn how to translate your natural creative abilities into a technical language that the internet can speak.

How to Get a Web Design Degree

Having a bachelor’s degree in web design will give you a leg up when applying to jobs. An information technology degree or graphic design degree with a web design concentration will also give you a solid foundation in the fundamentals of web design. There are a number of colleges that offer web design degrees, some of which are online if you prefer …

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Who needs a web design company? Doing it yourself seems like a piece of cake. Download some software or use your web hosting company’s built in website making software. Spend a few hours and then *poof*, your website is done. Maybe not.

The biggest problem in digital marketing today is that small business owners do not understand how important their website can be to their business. The look and functionality of your website can make or break you. While doing it yourself will certainly save you money upfront, within 1 year you will have lost more revenue and goodwill than it would have cost to hire a professional web design company…twice over. Today’s websites are nothing like those from 5 years ago. They serve as both a 24-hour marketing vehicle for your business and a tool to make your life easier. So what’s the big deal with having your site done professionally? Here are 10 reasons why going with a professional beats doing it yourself.

1. A Positive First Impression

The second somebody visits your website, they form an opinion of your business. This opinion is based entirely on the look of your site. Imagine that. Even if you provide the best service in the world or your products cure cancer, your website is the one doing the talking. What do you want it to say? When you go the extra mile to hire a professional web design company, they’ll notice the difference and your first impression will be significantly more positive.

2. Compatibility With the Latest Mobile Technologies

If you are not a freelancer or working for a web design company, you probably have little knowledge of new and upcoming technology standards for mobile websites. This can cost you big. For example, we know mobile is growing every month, but what solutions might you use to make your website mobile compatible? If you weren’t aware of responsive web design, you might instead pay a monthly fee to have a company create and maintain a mobile version of your website. A professional web design company would educate you on responsive design and build your site using the technology, saving you hundreds of dollars. Additionally, as newer mobile devices come out, is your self-made website able to adapt? Nobody knows, but with a professional your site will likely be far more future proof as new ways to browse the web emerge.

3. Beautiful High-DPI Retina Optimized Images

Wondering why your website’s images look fuzzy on your new iPhone or high-def tablet? It’s because these new high-resolution devices support high-dpi images – images with twice as much detail than before. You’ve heard the term “retina” used in Apple marketing and retina-compatible images are what we are talking about here when we say high-dpi. For the average Joe, even with a “retina-compatible” theme high-dpi images require a bit of trial and error. If you aren’t using WordPress, the process is even harder without ready-made plugins to start off with. But …

Building a website from scratch? Revamping an existing one? Either way, there are plenty of considerations you’ll need to make before getting started. Whether your budget is big or bootstrapped, here are 5 tips for hiring a really great web designer.

1. Own, not rent, your website

Before beginning your website project, get clear on the difference between renting and owning your website. Customized themes from SquareSpace and ElegantThemes are certainly beautiful, but require you to pay monthly or annual fees to continue using them. For custom-designed websites, you should have full rights once your project is completed and paid for.

When reviewing developer proposals, carefully read the fine print. Will ownership of the domain name, hosting environment, and source code be transferred from the web designer to you? What about the copyright for images, graphic designs and content? Without these guarantees, you won’t be able to keep your website should you decide to change developers in the future, and you’ll have to rebuild from scratch.

2. Check out their portfolio

Choose a few of the web designer’s samples and visit these websites. Do you like what you see? Don’t just ooh and ahh over pretty designs – go beyond the home page and click through several pages to check their functionality, site architecture, and user experience. Look for clean designs and intuitive navigations. The quality of work they put into their past projects will likely reflect the outcome of your website project.

3. Inquire about SEO

A properly optimized website will keep Google’s penguins, pandas, and hummingbirds at bay.  Talk to your web design candidates about their SEO knowledge. If they make pie in the sky promises about first page ranking, that’s a huge red flag and you should walk away. If they talk about how proper indexing, coding, and other site-wide techniques can improve search bot accessibility and page speed, you’re good to go.

4. Make sure you mesh well

When vetting web designers, schedule at least one in-person or virtual meeting with each candidate and interview them face to face. How they respond to your questions now will speak volumes about how they’ll be to work with when the project is in full swing. Do they ask a lot of questions and seem genuinely interested in your project? Do they seem nonchalant and brush off every concern you have an easy fix? Do they overpromise on what they can deliver like a sleazy salesman? Gauge their reactions to your interview questions to determine if they’re a good fit.

5. Think about the long term

Once development is completed, websites require routine maintenance work on the back end to continue running optimally. Performing upgrades, safely backing up files, cleaning cache, deleting old plugins…the list goes on. Who will handle these technical tasks?

If you want to manage these tasks on your end, make sure your website is created in a user-friendly CMS like WordPress or Drupal. Plus, these environments will make editing, adding and deleting content a …

A website is your identity on the internet. It has to portray yourself, the art and craft, and the skills you have mastered. However, if you plan to take your business live on a website, then the design matters more than a personal blog or website. In this article, we’ll explore 7 reasons you should hire a professional web design company.

Online customers are more careful and cautious in order products or services; that’s why you may need to focus on your website’s design. There are different ways you can have a website. For example, you can have a template that immediately set up your website with a pre-defined layout and user experience.

Most people choose website builders to design a website by dragging and dropping objects and boxes to each page. Trying these methods will get you a friendly website with thousands of other websites that have gone through the same economical solutions. To be different, stay ahead of the competition, and offer an exciting user experience, you must hire a professional web design company. The one that owns your business requirements and designs an excellent website that is appealing and usable. Let’s look into more reasons as to why you must invest in a dedicated and professional design company.

1. Brilliant localization

A freelancer or a web design agency has limited exposure to the market. They often claim to have worked with clients worldwide, which is not justified as they have worked on global standards. To have a website designed for people of a specific region, language, ethnicity, and culture, you must go for a company with such projects in the portfolio. For example, if you aim to set up an online garments store for the UAE’s women, you must look for a professional web design Dubai Company. They know the local industry’s design trends and are familiar with the common eCommerce templates famous among the locals. A dedicated company can deliver the kind of work no one else can offer.

2. Unmatched Creativity: Reasons to Hire a Professional Web Design Company

A professional web design company is often powered by design enthusiasts who have spent years understanding different businesses and addressing their issues with impressive design solutions. An individual design that may have completed a few random design projects never possesses the exposure a design of a professional company owns.

Companies have a team where they keep learning new concepts and techniques and practical implementations on the right channel. They know the aesthetics of web designs for various businesses and industries. Therefore, they can assure you unmatched creativity.

3. Professionals know the latest trends.

Web design and development are equally flooded with emerging trends, how the fashion and beauty industry is. Only an expert or an enthusiast would like to chase the trends and see how it fits into various business types and models.

A trend only seems to be a concept they may seek inspiration from for a newbie or freelancer. However, a professional company sets …