Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an essential part of any online business today. No site owner will be able to grow a loyal customer base if his site is stuck on page 6 in the search results. SEO consists of a huge list of things required for effective search engine promotion. Some of them are very important, others play a secondary role.
Rumours that SEO will die has been around since 1998. Nevertheless, the SEO is actively developing, analysing new algorithms and finding an approach to them, coming up with new chips. SEO will be an important part of any site as long as people are looking for information through Google.
SEO Rules
SEO consists of two components: "internal" and "external" optimisation. Let's figure out why they are needed.
1) "Internal" Optimisation
Compilation of the semantic core of the site (keywords and phrases are selected that fit the subject of the web resource);
Drawing up a sitemap so that it is convenient to navigate on it;
Improving the quality of images for fast loading of a web page;
Improving usability (usability of the Internet resource), cannot be ignored. For example, visitors more often "click" on rounded buttons than on corner buttons;
Correction of technical errors (getting rid of broken links, increasing download speed, removing duplicate pages);
Re-linking (linking different pages with each other through links);
Increase in relevance (compliance with user requests);
Development of description, title, and keywords.
2) "External" optimisation
It includes improving the web resource in the following areas:
The absence of "Broken" links, i.e. all pages referenced by external web pages must be working.
Publication of fresh and interesting material, which will be shared by site visitors, increasing the link mass for the site.
Participation in forums, social networks, and blogs.
Link exchange with popular sites.
Registration of the site in the thematic catalogues;
Placing an article with links in the media.
Posting an article with links on social networks.
It is advisable to analyse the actions of competitors at least once a month.
Also, in order to increase your chances of getting into the Tops of search engines, you can use special services for SEO promotion. There you will receive answers on analytics, position monitoring, analysis of internal optimisation and external links, and a lot of useful information on other issues.
Why is SEO important?
Customers can be directed to the funnel in a variety of ways, including contextual advertising, social media, blogger ads, and other sources. However, organic results make up the majority of the SERPs. They get the most clicks on SERPs, even more than PPC ads that sit above organic search results.
SEO provides businesses with the audience reach they need to attract customers. As long as you're targeting topics that have consistent interest from your target audience, SEO is the most consistent way to get traffic.
Google takes a wide range of factors into account when determining a site's search engine ranking. Remember that the goal of search engines is to try and find content that best matches a user's query. If your website manages to make relevant inquiries related to your business, that's a huge win.
71.33% of Google searches resulted in organic clicks on the first page. The second and third pages only get 5.59%. These statistics once again highlight the importance of incorporating SEO optimisation into a business's marketing strategy.
Having a website that doesn't receive any traffic is pointless. SEO has many benefits to help your website grow:
Better user experience;
The main source of potential customers;
Higher conversion rates;
Increasing brand awareness;
Effective budget management;
Helps in the competition.
SEO will help you create a fast and user-friendly website that meets the requirements of Google search.
SEO is as important for a programmer as it is for a web designer. Search engines take into account not only the content of the site but also tags, adaptability, usability, performance and those indicators that affect it. It's funny to realise how closely some areas of web design, programming and SEO are closely intertwined. When SEO becomes an integral part of a website, the entire site becomes much more user and search engine friendly.
If programmers and web designers put in even a little effort to understand each other better, it could make life easier for everyone, communication would become more relaxed, and projects would be completed faster and would be more profitable.
Why Is the well-coordinated work of specialists so important and how to bring productivity closer to the maximum?
Web designer and programmer - who are they?
The designer creates clear and simple interfaces for the user. Convenience and appearance play the main role.
It is on the programmers’ shoulders to "animate" the drawn design with the help of code. The user part of the site - fonts, images, animations, styles - is the frontend.
Problem number 1 - lack of understanding of the functionality
The designer must understand the level of the frontend. He draws a beautiful design, thinks through the animation and gives the layout to work. The front-end makes up and it turns out nonsense. The developer's level is not up to the task.
At the start of the design, you need to know how to implement the project. The depth of knowledge is important on both sides, otherwise, the quest will last for weeks. Sometimes it is possible to get off with a little blood and come up with an alternative, but most often this leads to edits.
Problem # 2 - the designer and the programmer don't work in the same room
Information about defects and corrections is sent in the mail. This complicates the work, slowing it down at least two times. If the layout is drawn in Photoshop, then quickly transferring a file to a gigabyte is difficult. There can be many such fixes.
With an outsourced specialist, nothing good will come of it either. Without direct communication, he will not understand the "mood" of the project. The concept is thought out by the team, and during the discussion, everyone understands their task. The freelancer will have to explain the project inside and out.
Record screencasts with animation demonstrations chew every moment. The layout on a "remote site" - a lot of wasted time and a dubious result. The whole team should be “on the same wavelength”, everyone always brings something to the project.
Our solution
If you want to speed up your workflow, let the designer and the front-end developer be in the same room. Better yet, at one table. The team should constantly communicate and every concept should be discussed. During the conversation, everyone imagines what will be in the project and how to implement it, makes their own suggestions. The work of a single organism is felt.
Nothing prevents the designer from rolling up on the chair and discussing the details. Needless to say, testing a project together is much more effective? Errors pop up immediately. Decisions come quickly. Edits are made immediately.
Synchronisation
Synchronising programmer and designer is an important point. The work goes faster when the developer knows the designer's favourite tricks and vice versa.
Make sure to get together and review selected sites. Share your impressions, analyse constructiveness and logic. This approach instils the skills of "good and bad decisions." It allows you to understand where the design is good and where it is not, and what can be changed.
Front-end and designer rolled into one
Let everyone do their own thing. You can't design and build houses equally well. As soon as you start to spray, you are one step behind. Some people believe that both professions can be subject to one person. There are generalists in the digital market who both "design" and develop.
We have our own opinion on this matter. A full-stack designer will make it easier. It's not in his best interest to create an incredible design and then suffer over the implementation. He will limit himself in actions until the project becomes as simple as possible. Don't strive to be the best at everything. Your sphere is enough.
SEO is a complex topic, but considering the amount of traffic and profits it can generate for your business, it is well worth the time and effort.
Now that you know how the mutual work of designer and programmer can help it, make sure no to forget the basics. Make sure your site is crawlable, start publishing quality content that is optimised for keywords and start link building. Don’t forget about the importance of good quality content, text, pictures and the importance of video in SEO. This will already be enough to get the first results.
Conclusion
Making a good SEO website is a place that is surrounded by a fence and everyone works on their task. The designer is busy with pixels, the programmer with codes. Sometimes it happens that you stop seeing beyond the monitor.
The work of the web designer and developer should be a well-oiled mechanism. The pledge of a completed project is built on communication. Know each other's strengths and weaknesses, discuss the project "onshore" and you will have a great SEO and won’t have to correct mistakes.