How to Avoid 10 Common Web Design Mistakes That Hurt SEO

How to Avoid 10 Common Web Design Mistakes That Hurt SEO

December 7, 2020 | 6 min read

How to Avoid 10 Common Web Design Mistakes That Hurt SEO

Learn about the 10 most common web design mistakes that can hurt your SEO efforts and rankings, and how to avoid them.

Imagine that.

You spent a lot of time designing your site.

I chose a nice look, added amazing scenes and made a compelling copy.

You're sure your visitors and you will enjoy it.

the only problem?

You are not receiving any visitors.

In fact, your site can't be viewed anywhere on Google's 1st(or 2nd or 3rd page.

what is going on?

Well here's the thing.

Your web design can be the reason why your site is in such a low position in the search engines.

Are you ready to distort things?

Here are the 10 most common web design mistakes that can hurt your SEO efforts and rankings - and how to avoid them.

1. Poor website navigation

Have you ever visited a site and don't know what to do next?

You know, something like that.

You don't want visitors to do that.

to the right?

Instead, you want them to know exactly what to do.

In addition, you want Google's web crawler to understand your site.

To do this, be sure to prioritize internal links between important pages.

2. Slow speed of site pages

In the world of the Internet, people are moving at lightning speed.

They are constantly surfing on social media, moving away from email and dropping a number of general headlines on the SERP.

This means that if they need time to click through to your site and it takes too long to load, they will disappear before you know it.

You have other sites with the same information.

If you want your visitors to stay?

Make sure pages load in three seconds or less.

The scary part is the beautiful WordPress theme you chose carefully, and this could be the reason why your site takes so long to load.

How to prevent it?

Try your slow look to try and test one of the following:

  1. Hello Elementer - this theme is simple and minimalist, allowing you to provide a clean interface and amazing speed.
  2. Astra - The Astra theme is one of the fastest themes that can be uploaded to WordPress. It is very easy to use, offering attractive pre-prepared demonstrations for popular industries such as pet care, outdoor activities and more.
  3. OceanWP - this theme allows you to create a good design without compromising speed. It's fully responsive and looks great even on small devices.

3. The site is not suitable for mobile devices

Have you ever met someone who told you they don't have a smartphone?

If you have, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for this person.

Because the truth is that we expect everyone to have a mobile device.

In fact, there are 275 million smartphone users in the United States .

Do these people use smartphones to consume digital media?

Challenging!

In fact, 70% of all digital media consumed in the US is from smartphones!

Worldwide, 52% of web traffic comes from mobile devices.

Of course, Google looked and first came up with mobile indexing.

This means that it prioritizes the mobile version of the site for indexing and ranking.

If your site isn't optimized for mobile devices, expect it to be basically not visible in the SERP.

In addition, the likelihood of visitors leaving a non-mobile site increases 5-fold.

But don't worry.

There are very few customizations required to make your site mobile-friendly.

4. Missing H1 tag (especially on the website home page)

Your H1 tag is the first thing that search engine crawlers do to help them identify your site's topic.

If you don't have one?

Your site is most likely in the SERP.

But the inclusion of the H1 tag is more than just Google's satisfaction.

It also delights your visitors.

For example, take a look at the STUDIOPRESS website.

At first glance, you know exactly what a site is.

Here are three tips for using the H1 tag to delight both Google and your visitors:

  • Include the main keyword H1.
  • H1 position on the fold - people are watching in the field of vision before scrolling down.
  • Check for 5 seconds. If your visitors can see what your site is like in 5 seconds, your H1 tag is great.

5. Images and large media files

Are you filling your site with beautiful pictures?

I hear you in the EU.

We all love to see our sites like this.

And he's cool.

But did you know that images and large media files can slow down your site?

To make sure it's not, run your site using the Google Pagespeed Insights Quiz.

Google scrolls down to find out about the photos I use.

If it's too large, you can resize it or compress it and re-upload it to your site.

6. Disruptive Pop-Ups

Do you use pop-ups?

don't worry.

Properly used pop-ups can convert up to 1375% of email subscribers

The problem occurs when the pop-up is interrupted and distracts visitors.

According to Google, sites with annoying pop-ups will have difficulty reaching high positions in the SERP.

Solution?

Create a pop-up that your audience will enjoy.

OK good. They may never like them, so you should at least create pop-ups with high conversion rates that won't bother them.

For example, you can have a pop-up window after a visitor has spent at least 30 seconds on your site.

Another thing you can do is delicious pop-ups.

Like him.

7. Text in images

It's not hard to avoid this problem, so it's surprising that many web designers do.

It looks like this: Add text directly to the image, not place it over it.

Like him.

The problem is that adding text to the live image loses the ability to use H1, subtitles, and related keywords above the screen.

Remember that while your visitors may read the text in the images, Google can't.

8. Infinite scrolling

Ever have to scroll to the bottom of a webpage and see uploaded new content?

It is an endless scroll.

And while it's good, it exacerbates the problem.

Google's robots can't scroll.

This means they won't be able to index additional pages on your site.

For example, your site has 100 pages.

However, your default setting only shows the last 10 messages.

When Google crawls your site, it won't know there is any content other than the top 10 posts.

9. Thin content

In the online world, your site is your store.

This means that you should decorate it so that visitors can attract it and find out what you have to offer.

In addition, you want to optimize it for keywords so that people can find you.

To make sure you kill both birds with one stone?

Avoid thin content.

Here are three flags of thin content.

Not Having Service/Product Pages

Removing these pages means you can rank for related keywords.

List multiple products or services on one page

It's great to have one keyword per page.

This means one product or service on one page.

Let Google easily understand the theme of each of your webpages.

You should be rewarded with more visibility in the SERP.

Thin content on your product pages

Do not scratch the surface when handling the product pages.

Fill it with high-quality, keyword-targeted copy.

In addition, make sure your writing is compelling enough to convert visitors into customers.

Resist the urge to write a slower copy.

Like him.

10. There are no 404 pages

404 pages is a requirement.

This is not a random page you create on a Saturday when you have nothing to do.

This is an important page that informs your visitors that you are interested in their experience.

You want to put it on your page and show you where you're going.

With a little creativity, you can use a 404 page to make visitors smile rather than irritate.