Let’s get this out of the way: web design aims to make a website look good on all levels. Aesthetics, however, is only one aspect of web design. It is also intended to give your SEO a boost.
A website designed in a way that makes it easier and convenient to use impacts your optimization efforts positively. As long as users get what they want or need from your website, people will keep coming in and spend time exploring its every nook and cranny. That is excellent news for your SEO, what with all the good traffic and high SERP rankings you will get from it.
Bad web design, on the other hand, can only affect your SEO in the most negative way. Let’s take a look at some bad web design elements that practically negates all your earnest optimization work.
#1. Website doesn’t look good
The most apparent indicator of bad web design is how visually unappealing it is. An excellently-optimized site wouldn’t really work if the colors are off, the graphics are poorly rendered, and the fonts are hardly legible.
With just one look at one such poorly-designed website, people will automatically bounce off to another site, hurting its SEO deeply.
#2. Navigating the site is hard work
A website with a clear navigation structure with clickable elements and a search feature that actually works practically guarantees a pleasant, even enjoyable browsing experience for its users.
Take all of that away, and you’ll have a cluttered website where it’s easy to get lost.
A site that takes a lot of effort to navigate is easy to leave too, and that will jack up its bounce rate, and its SEO will suffer the consequences.
#3. Poor readability
People come to your site because they want to check out its content. However, if the fonts you use are too small, reading it would be difficult.
The same goes for text that may be of the appropriate size, but the color and the background make it too hard to see, like in the case of websites that use white letters against a light-colored background.
Your content may be compelling, but visitors aren’t likely going to spend half their day making an effort to read it. All they have to do is close your page and move down the search results for a website with more readable text.
Your link may be right on top of search results, and people will be clicking it, but they wouldn’t bother staying if they can’t read your text.
#4. Content with little to no value
People check out websites to get the information they want or need. Maybe they want to know more about the product or service you’re offering, or they just want news or updates within your industry.
Whatever their reasons for coming to your website, you need to keep in mind that they’re there because they’re looking for something useful to them.
And when you offer poorly-written content that offers little to no value to your visitors, what’s the point of staying?
It cannot be stressed enough how important well-written, useful, engaging, and relevant web content is in the grand scheme of things. It’s what Internet users are looking for when they click on your link in search results.
Don’t let all of your SEO efforts that got them to your site in the first place go for naught by providing content that’s disappointing, to say the least.
#5. Music or video that plays automatically
There are several reasons why the phrase “RIP headphones users” was coined. One of them is the way some websites automatically play videos or music the moment their homepage finishes loading.
Far too many headphones users have jumped out of their skin thanks to these automatically-playing videos or music. A typical reaction to being startled like that is to close that page right away, which won’t be doing your SEO any favors.
So as much as possible, steer clear of incorporating auto-playing music or video in your web design.
#6. Non-responsive web design
In a world where mobile users outnumber desktop users (and the gap is widening with each passing day), non-responsive web design is dangerously close to being considered as poor web design.
After all, non-responsive websites do not display well on smartphones and tablets, and mobile users can’t be bothered to explore a site they can’t easily tap and swipe their way around.
Being non-responsive severely limits your website’s potential. Without being explored on a regular basis by a massive and continuously growing group of users, your site will be missing out on traffic and rankings, and in effect, the leads and conversions they can and will bring.
Putting a lot of effort on your SEO is great. Give your web design the same amount of attention, and you’ll bring yourself closer to achieving the goals you have set for your website.
Guest Author: Anthony Tisara from MyBizNiche.com.
