The way a website is built, designed and organized can either boost its performance in the search results or completely stop it.

SEO-ready website design makes SEO and conversions less expensive and more effective. The time and effort spent having to get a badly designed site SEO-ready is usually a bigger investment than building into the design and development from the start.

Here, I’ll outline the basic considerations of SEO-friendly web design if you are building a website from the ground up:

• What is SEO-friendly web design?
• User experience is at the heart of SEO web design
• Seven key principles of SEO-friendly web design
• FAQ: How does clean code impact a website’s SEO performance? 

What Is SEO-Friendly Web Design?

SEO-friendly web design is the process of designing and developing a website in a way that is good for both search engines and website visitors.

User Experience Is at the Heart of SEO Web Design

“Focus on the user, and all else will follow.” – Google

When website designers and developers think about the user experience, it is often different from the way we think about it in the SEO world. In other words: Don’t expect your designer to know how to create an SEO-friendly web design.

In SEO, we consider the experience that the website creates for both people and search engines.

We ask:

• Is the site easily accessible and crawlable for search engines?
• How fast is the website?
• Can people using all types of devices access the site with ease?
• How easy is it for people to navigate the content on the website?
• Are the webpages easy to interact with (links, buttons, pop-ups, etc.)?
• Is the content high quality and delivering on the website visitor’s expectations?
• Is the site secure?

Google’s ranking algorithm looks for websites that create a good user experience. If we get the things right that I outlined above, we have a chance to compete in the search results.

7 Key Principles of SEO-Friendly Web Design

Follow these seven principles of SEO-friendly web design and your website will be primed to compete in the search results:

1. Clean code
2. Speed
3. Mobile-Friendliness
4. Siloing
5. Core Web Vitals
6. No Annoying Pop-Ups
7. HTTPS

1. Clean Code

Code is what developers and designers use to build your site. It’s what search engine spiders use to “read” and “understand” what the site is about.

We want the code side to be user-friendly for search engines, and that means it needs to be clean and simple.

The goal: A high amount of page content with the least amount of markup. You want the search engines to be able to get to the most important code on the page right away – not get caught up in a bunch of code bloat.

As you think about how to achieve clean code, don’t forget that the content management system (CMS) you choose may play a role. Make sure the CMS allows you to control the HTML output of pages on your website.

For example, you may need the ability to move large blocks of HTML code down to the bottom of the page so that the spiders can get to the most important code first.

Other things to consider are the ability to use an external CSS file to control formatting and an external JS file to house JavaScript if that’s used on your site.

For the cleanest code, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops web standards and guidelines that you can try to follow.

The search engines do not require W3C compliance, but it’s not a bad idea because their standards align with SEO in many cases.

2. Speed

Fast websites are better for website visitors. And that is why Google cares about having fast websites in its search results.

Not to mention that a slow website can cause a website visitor to bounce from your site, and that means potential revenue lost.

Consider this Pinterest research that showed reducing wait time by 40% resulted in a 15% increase in SEO traffic and a 15% increase in conversion rate to sign-up.

To learn more, read:

• How Fast Should My Website Be and Why Should I Care?

3. Mobile-Friendliness

A good portion of your website visitors will be on their smartphones or tablets, and you want them to have a good experience that is different from desktop.

Search engines like Google care about this, too. As of Q4 2021, more than 60% of search engine users came from a mobile device. Being that the majority of Google users are mobile, Google fully launched its mobile-first indexing in 2021.

“Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user’s query. Since the majority of users now access Google Search with a mobile device, Googlebot primarily crawls and indexes pages with the smartphone agent going forward.”

–Google, Mobile-first indexing best practices

To learn more, read:

• Page Experience Matters: The Mobile-Friendly Site

4. Siloing

SEO siloing is a way to organize the content on your website in an SEO-friendly way that is good for both search engines and website visitors.

In design, SEO siloing can outline the navigation of the website:

The goal of SEO siloing is to:

• Create enough content around a topic that gives the search engines what they need to understand what the site is about so they know it is relevant for a search query.
• Give website visitors enough quality information on a topic so they don’t have to go searching elsewhere for more.

Siloing can improve rankings and traffic. When you satisfy both the search engines and the user, you can reap the rewards.

Of course, it’s not just the organization of the content but the quality of it. You want to be sure that your website and its content exude experience, expertise, authority and trust – all quality indicators as defined by Google.

To learn more, read:

• SEO Siloing: What, Why, How
• 5 Times When SEO Siloing Can Make or Break Your Search Engine Rankings

5. Core Web Vitals

Google invented the term “core web vitals” to represent a set of web page elements that enhance the user experience.

Core web vitals are built into Google’s “page experience” ranking update. Websites that pass core web vitals thresholds have a better chance of creating a good user experience and ranking high in the search results.

Core web vitals are comprised of three sets of criteria that measure:

• How fast the largest image or text block renders on the webpage
• How quickly a webpage loads and executes so that the user can interact with the page
• Unexpected layout shifts on a webpage (a button or link that moves on the webpage and causes a person to click on something other than what they wanted)

To learn more, read:

• Core Web Vitals for SEO: An Overview
• Google’s Page Experience Update: A Complete Guide [E-book]

6. No Annoying Pop-Ups

Web pop-ups can be a popular way to get someone’s attention when they are browsing your site. But they can also be annoying – especially when they get in the way of the content someone is trying to access.

Google recognized this marketing faux pas, and in 2017 it rolled out an intrusive interstitial penalty.

As you’re designing a website, make sure:

1. To use pop-up banners that don’t take up a lot of space
2. Users can easily dismiss the pop-up
3. To apply a delay before the pop-up renders
4. Segment your pop-ups by the audience to make the message more relevant to them
5. Pop-ups don’t continue to display or follow people around the website once they have closed them
6. The pop-up doesn’t slow your page load time

To learn more, read:

• Intrusive Interstitials and Why They Are Bad for SEO 

7. HTTPS

Making a website secure using HTTPS is an industry standard. HTTPS encrypts data to protect a website and its visitors from bad actors. In doing so, HTTPS creates a good user experience and helps instill trust in your website.

You also need HTTPS for new web platform features, including progressive web apps.

In 2014, Google announced that sites with HTTPS would receive a small ranking boost. Now, HTTPS is a part of Google’s page experience update that went live in mid-2021.

To learn more, read:

• Page Experience Matters: HTTPS for Users and Ranking

There you have it: Seven steps to ensure you are keeping SEO in mind as you design and develop your site. Follow these steps to get ahead of the competition in the search results starting on launch day.

Thinking about redesigning your website? Our SEO experts can help ensure it is a complete success. Fill out our form to get in touch before you begin. 

FAQ: How does clean code impact a website’s SEO performance?

Clean code serves as the backbone of a well-optimized website. Clean code refers to the practice of writing efficient, organized and minimalistic code that facilitates seamless communication between search engine spiders and website content. A website built on clean code enhances its visibility in search engine rankings and elevates the overall user experience.

Clean code greatly influences a website’s SEO performance through improved crawlability and indexability. Search engine crawlers navigate websites by following links and analyzing code structures. With clean code, developers ensure that these crawlers can efficiently access and interpret the website’s content, leading to more accurate indexing and better visibility in search results.

Moreover, clean code enhances website speed, a crucial factor in modern SEO. Search engines consider page loading speed as a significant ranking factor, as faster websites provide a better user experience. By reducing unnecessary code and optimizing resources, clean code significantly contributes to faster loading times, leading to higher rankings and decreased bounce rates.

By emphasizing clean code website development, website designers create more user-friendly sites. Clean code websites are more compatible with different devices and browsers for an improved user experience – an approach that aligns well with Google’s focus on user experience and increases chances of ranking high in search results.

Besides enhancing SEO performance, clean code simplifies website maintenance and future updates. Developers find it simpler to fix bugs and update the website to accommodate changing search engine algorithms when working with an organized codebase.

Website owners and developers can take full advantage of clean code by adhering to industry best practices and coding standards. A Content Management System that produces clean code will yield maximum benefits. Regular code audits and optimization efforts will keep the website in top shape, ensuring optimal SEO performance.

Clean code plays a vital role in shaping a website’s SEO performance. By optimizing the code structure, improving crawlability and prioritizing user experience, clean code creates a strong foundation for search engine optimization. Emphasizing clean code in website development enhances search engine rankings and establishes a trustworthy and authoritative online presence.

Simple Steps To Increase Your SEO Power: 

1. Conduct an in-depth analysis of your website’s existing codebase to identify areas that require optimization.
2. Remove any redundant, unused, or unnecessary code to streamline the website’s structure and improve loading times.
3. Ensure proper indentation, commenting and code organization to enhance readability and maintainability.
4. Optimize images and multimedia elements to reduce their file sizes without compromising quality.
5. Utilize external CSS and JavaScript files to keep the HTML code clean and concise.
6. Implement responsive design techniques to ensure your website performs well on various devices and screen sizes.
7. Use semantic HTML elements to improve accessibility and search engine understanding of your content.
8. Minimize HTTP requests by combining CSS and JavaScript files where possible.
9. Leverage browser caching to reduce load times for returning visitors.
10. Optimize database queries and reduce server response times to improve overall website performance.
11. Test your website’s loading speed and performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
12. Fix any issues or errors identified during the testing phase to achieve optimal performance.
13. Regularly update your website’s CMS and plugins to ensure compatibility and security.
14. Conduct periodic code audits to identify and rectify any coding inefficiencies or vulnerabilities.
15. Implement structured data markup to help search engines understand the content and context of your website.
16. Optimize meta tags and descriptions for each page to improve click-through rates in search results.
17. Encourage user engagement and reduce bounce rates by providing valuable and relevant content.
18. Monitor your website’s performance regularly and adjust as needed to maintain optimal SEO results.

The post What Is SEO-Friendly Web Design? 7 Steps To Follow When Building a Site appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

For several years, people have speculated that websites built on WordPress do better in Google’s search results. So, does this mean Google favors WordPress sites?

Let’s dive into:

• Why Google embraces WordPress
• Does Google give WordPress sites better rankings?
• FAQ: How does the partnership between Google and WordPress benefit search results?

Why Google Embraces WordPress

WordPress is behind more than one-third (43%) of the websites on the internet and its CMS market share is roughly 64%, according to W3Techs.

That makes it the most popular content management system and growing. In fact, from January 2020 to April 2022, WordPress usage grew from 35% to 43% – that’s nearly a 23% increase in just over two years.

And WordPress isn’t just for small businesses. WordPress powers some of the biggest brands and most popular websites including Zoom.us, Alibaba.com, Bloomerg.com, and Salesforce.com.

Google endorsed WordPress early on, stating back in 2009 that the CMS solved up to 90% of SEO mechanics, with features such as enabling an SEO-friendly site structure, mobile friendliness, and enabling page optimization via meta tags – and that is right out of the box.

Additionally, WordPress plugins enable you to further tailor functionality (including our own Bruce Clay WordPress SEO plugin), providing plenty of ways for optimizing a WordPress website for SEO.

Even with all of these new features, WordPress still isn’t perfect for organic search and needs work if you really want to increase your search results.

In 2017, Google presented findings at a WordCamp event that showed WordPress performed poorly compared to non-WordPress webpages on a lot of key performance indicators.

(In case you didn’t notice, those performance indicators are the same found in Google’s “page experience” algorithm update that hit in 2021).

So in 2018, Googler Alberto Medina announced a partnership between Google and WordPress to help improve the WordPress ecosystem. (The announcement on his personal blog seems to be currently unavailable.)

Why partner together?

As WordPress expands in market share and becomes the website platform of choice for more websites, Google wants to ensure that WordPress sites perform well in search results.

That equates to a better experience for Google users. And this is what Google really cares about.

Does Google Give WordPress Sites Better Rankings?

Maybe – but it’s not likely due to a ranking signal in its algorithm. And, in fact, Google has stated otherwise.

In 2016, Google’s John Mueller said this on Twitter:

no. WP is a great CMS & works well in search, but afaik our algos don’t explicitly check for any particular CMS.

— John (personal) (@JohnMu) November 1, 2016

And again in 2021, Mueller said this:

I don’t know Webflow, but CMS’s for the web all make HTML pages in one form or another. There’s nothing inherently making one generator better for SEO than any other. Google Search doesn’t know / track if a page comes from WordPress, FrontPage, or an artisan code-foundry.

— John (personal) (@JohnMu) November 16, 2021

The reason why WordPress sites may tend to rank better is due to WordPress’s SEO-friendly features. Not every CMS allows you to do advanced SEO. This is what you want in a CMS.

As WordPress and its community — including Google — continue working together to enhance it, WordPress sites will be more competitive in search results compared to other website builders.

If you are choosing between WordPress and Wix for creating a website, my advice would be to ensure you can compete effectively with your competition online.

And, if all your competitors use WordPress, it would be advantageous for all parties involved to be competing on an even playing field. You don’t get there by using a website builder that does not enable you to do advanced SEO.

Contact us today to learn more about how you can develop or update your WordPress site to rank in Google.

FAQ: How does the partnership between Google and WordPress benefit search results?

Google recently formed an alliance between itself and WordPress, offering multiple benefits for website owners and marketers. This partnership positively impacts search rankings for WordPress users in many ways, including:

Enhanced Crawling and Indexing

The partnership between Google and WordPress has resulted in improved crawling and indexing of WordPress websites. Google Searchbot is tightly integrated into WordPress websites and will quickly identify and index new or updated pages on them, giving Google the power to show them in relevant search results quickly. Google can even quickly index blog posts written for WordPress sites as quickly as they’re published or updated, making sure your posts appear quickly for searchers to discover them.

Optimized Site Structure and Mobile-Friendliness

WordPress is widely admired for its user-friendly interface and robust architecture, offering a host of SEO-friendly themes and plugins that can optimize website structure, increase speed and enhance mobile friendliness. This integration aligns perfectly with Google’s emphasis on mobile-first indexing and page experience signals. By leveraging WordPress’s features and Google’s guidelines, website owners can create highly responsive and user-friendly websites that are favored by search engines.

Streamlined Content Publishing and SEO

Content is king in the digital realm, and WordPress empowers website owners to create and publish high-quality content seamlessly. The partnership with Google further enhances this process by providing valuable insights and recommendations for optimizing content for search results. WordPress plugins, such as Yoast SEO, integrate with Google Search Console to offer real-time suggestions for improving keyword targeting, meta descriptions and overall content quality. This collaborative approach ensures that your WordPress site aligns with Google’s search algorithm, maximizing visibility and engagement.

Improved Schema Markup and Rich Snippets

Schema markup, also known as structured data, provides search engines with additional information about your website’s content, enabling them to display rich snippets in search results. WordPress offers numerous plugins that simplify the implementation of schema markup, ensuring that your content stands out in search listings. The Google-WordPress partnership has facilitated the adoption of standardized schema types and improved compatibility between WordPress and Google’s search engine. As a result, website owners can effectively communicate the relevance and context of their content to Google, leading to enhanced visibility and click-through rates.

The integration of Google’s search capabilities with the WordPress platform empowers website owners to create user-friendly, SEO-optimized websites that rank well in search results, ultimately driving more organic traffic and increasing online visibility.

The post Do WordPress Sites Do Better in Google Search? appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Google rolled out the page experience update from June to August 2021, so it’s live! Read on to understand what it means for your website and rankings.

• It’s new but not new
• The AMP advantage  is going away (finally)
• Overview of the page experience  ranking update
• FAQ: How does the Page Experience Ranking Update impact website rankings and SEO practices?

It’s New But Not New

Google is packaging many of the criteria that the ranking algorithm already used with some new page experience signals.

How does that change SEO? Not much. A website that runs well technically and offers a good user experience has always been a best practice. So this new update is not new news, per se.

Google clarified:

We will introduce a new signal that combines Core Web Vitals with our existing signals for page experience to provide a holistic picture of the quality of a user’s experience on a web page.

The ranking signals are*:

• Page load performance
• Responsiveness
• Visual stability
• Mobile-friendliness
• HTTPS
• No intrusive interstitials

*Note: Safe browsing was originally included in this list, but Google decided to remove it as a page experience ranking signal in August 2021.

“Evaluating page experience for a better web,” Google Webmaster Central Blog

If you have great content but not-so-great page experience factors, then you may still rank well. Google clarified:

While all of the components of page experience are important, we will prioritize pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar. A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search.

Simply put, ranking ties in terms of content will go to the best page experience score. However, Google rep John Mueller clarified in August 2021 that the page experience algorithm update is “more than a tiebreaker ranking signal.”

The AMP Advantage Is Going Away (Finally)

In 2017 and then again in 2018, I predicted AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) would have diminishing value in the future. Overall, it has been a hassle for sites to put in place. Back in 2017, Google’s Gary Illyes said that if a site was fast enough, then AMP wouldn’t be necessary anyway.

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to AMP. With the new page experience ranking signal, news websites won’t be required to implement AMP to show up in the Top Stories carousel.

But Top Stories articles are required to meet page experience standards:

As part of this update, we’ll also incorporate the page experience metrics into our ranking criteria for the Top Stories feature in Search on mobile, and remove the AMP requirement from Top Stories eligibility. Google continues to support AMP, and will continue to link to AMP pages when available. …

When we roll out the page experience ranking update, we will also update the eligibility criteria for the Top Stories experience. AMP will no longer be necessary for stories to be featured in Top Stories on mobile; it will be open to any page.

Alongside this change, page experience will become a ranking factor in Top Stories, in addition to the many factors assessed. As before, pages must meet the Google News content policies to be eligible. Site owners who currently publish pages as AMP, or with an AMP version, will see no change in behavior – the AMP version will be what’s linked from Top Stories.

The bottom line here is if you can make your pages fast and offer a good user experience, you probably don’t need AMP. As a note, in a 5G nation, it isn’t needed, but some countries are still 2G, and AMP is useful as a solution.

If you cannot focus on page experience factors, then you will want to stick with good content and, reluctantly, AMP implementation for better mobile speed.

You will likely base your decision on how much effort you’ve already put into AMP, how much effort it will be to optimize page experience factors, what the Top Stories results actually look like after the new ranking signal and other reasons.

Of course, the ultimate decision isn’t really about page experience versus AMP. It’s about improving your website in a way that’s generally good for SEO. So yes, everyone should look at how to improve their page experience.

Overview of the Page Experience Ranking Update

As mentioned, the new page experience ranking algorithm looks at a combination of page experience factors (which are already part of the ranking algorithm) with what Google is calling “core web vitals” (which will be new factors).

Page Experience Factors

These are:

• Mobile-friendliness: Can mobile users easily use your site?
• HTTPS: Is your site’s connection secure?
• No intrusive interstitials: Can mobile users access a webpage’s main content easily when they click through from the search results?

Core Web Vitals

These new ranking factors are:

• Largest contentful paint: Is your webpage load time optimal?
• First input delay: Can users easily interact with the page?
• Cumulative layout shift: Are the elements on your webpage stable so that it doesn’t cause a bad user experience?

We explore all of these factors in our series on page experience:

1. What’s the Page Experience Update?
2. How to Make a Mobile-Friendly Site
3. Intrusive Interstitials & Why They’re Bad for SEO
4. HTTPS for Users and Ranking
5. Core Web Vitals Overview
6. Core Web Vitals: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
7. Core Web Vitals: FID (First Input Delay)
8. Core Web Vitals: CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

Also see our high-level Page Experience overview for CMOs.

FAQ: How does the Page Experience Ranking Update impact website rankings and SEO practices?

The Page Experience Ranking Update introduced by Google has transformed the landscape of website rankings and SEO practices. This update incorporates core web vitals into its algorithm, emphasizing user experience more than ever before. With an eye on optimizing search results for user satisfaction, it’s crucial to understand the implications of this update for your online presence.

Google now places a premium on user-centric metrics like page load performance, responsiveness, and visual stability. Websites that prioritize a seamless browsing experience will likely witness improved rankings, making it imperative for businesses to focus on enhancing these elements.

One key takeaway is that this update underscores the significance of mobile-friendliness. As a critical aspect of user experience, ensuring that your website is mobile-responsive has become essential. Sites that offer a smooth and intuitive experience on mobile devices are more likely to garner higher rankings and engagement, reflecting Google’s commitment to prioritizing user satisfaction.

Moreover, this update’s impact goes beyond rankings alone. It has reshaped SEO practices, highlighting the synergy between technical aspects and content quality. While great content remains pivotal, it’s complemented by a website’s ability to deliver that content seamlessly. Pages that load swiftly, respond promptly to user interactions, and maintain visual stability are rewarded in search results.

Transitioning to a post-update landscape requires a holistic approach. Implementing performance optimization measures, such as compressing images and minimizing code, can improve page experience. Regularly monitoring core web vital metrics and addressing any performance issues can provide a competitive edge.

The Page Experience Ranking Update reinforces the importance of user-centricity in the digital realm. It compels businesses to prioritize website performance, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience. By embracing these changes and integrating them into SEO strategies, websites can position themselves for higher rankings and sustained online success.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Navigating the Page Experience Ranking Update

1. Understand the Core Web Vitals: Familiarize yourself with the three core web vitals – largest contentful paint, first input delay, and cumulative layout shift.
2. Assess Current Performance: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse to evaluate your website’s core web vital metrics.
3. Prioritize Mobile-Friendliness: Ensure your website is responsive and offers a seamless experience on mobile devices.
4. Optimize Page Load Performance: Compress images, leverage browser caching, and minify code to improve page loading times.
5. Enhance Visual Stability: Prevent unexpected layout shifts by ensuring that page elements remain stable during loading.
6. Address Interactivity Delays: Optimize JavaScript and minimize render-blocking resources to reduce first input delay.
7. Implement HTTPS: Ensure your website’s connection is secure with HTTPS to enhance user trust and SEO.
8. Eliminate Intrusive Interstitials: Remove or redesign pop-ups that obstruct users’ access to main content.
9. Monitor Performance Continuously: Regularly track core web vital metrics using Google Search Console or other monitoring tools.
10. Utilize Tools and Plugins: Consider using performance optimization plugins and tools tailored to your website’s platform.
11. Prioritize User Experience: Strive to create valuable, engaging content that aligns with users’ search intent.
12. Focus on Mobile Usability: Test your website on various mobile devices to ensure a consistent and intuitive experience.
13. Conduct User Testing: Gather feedback from actual users to identify any areas for improvement in user experience.
14. Collaborate with Developers: Work closely with developers to implement technical optimizations and resolve performance issues.
15. Stay Informed: Keep up with updates from Google regarding the Page Experience Ranking Update and any subsequent changes.
16. Monitor Ranking Changes: Observe how your website’s rankings evolve after implementing page experience improvements.
17. Analyze Performance Data: Continuously analyze performance data and user behavior to fine-tune your optimizations.
18. Adapt and Iterate: As user expectations and search algorithms evolve, remain flexible and adaptable in your strategies.
19. Seek Expert Guidance: Consult with SEO experts and professionals to gain insights and recommendations tailored to your website.
20. Commit to Ongoing Improvement: Page experience optimization is an ongoing process; consistently refine and enhance your website’s user experience to maintain favorable rankings.

The post Page Experience: Google’s New User Experience Algorithm Update appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..