I’ve got a question for you:
There are two shops that sell the same products at the same prices. You know just as much about each, and the only choice left to make is where you are going to make your final purchase. With all that in mind, which of these two places do you think you are going to patronize?
For the vast majority of you, I’m going to guess you said the business on the right, right? And that’s no surprise. One store is tucked away in a dark alleyway, dimly lit and hard to find, and the other is right off the main street, with a large marquee and inviting window displays! Not only do well lit and nicely decorated spaces feel more inviting, they also make the products they are selling feel cleaner, more valuable, and more reliable. FedEx Office Survey found that a whopping 76% of consumers enter stores based on what signs they use alone! So in short, when it comes to businesses, looks really do matter!
But wait a second, aren’t we supposed to be talking about website design?! While there is a clear difference between visiting a business’ website vs. their physical location, the same principles and expectations still apply. If your website does not have stellar SEO, is hard to navigate, confusing, or simply is just visually unappealing, then it’s like having a storefront that’s dark, dusty, unorganized, and most importantly hard to find!
As consumers check out businesses online first more and more, your website is increasingly becoming where first impressions are made. And if your site’s web design isn’t up to snuff, or you’re not showing up in search engine results, then you could be losing countless customers before they even get to know you!
But if your website is old and confusingly built, then where do you even start? Luckily, you’re listening to Tucson’s most trusted SEO website design specialists, and we’re here to tell you everything that could be going wrong with your site, how it is possibly affecting your SEO, and the best ways to fix them!
What’s Wrong With My Site?
Many things can be hindering your site’s ability to reach and connect with potential customers. Some are very obvious, and some arise from changing standards and aging software/plugins/etc. While it usually takes an expert to fully diagnose every issue a particular site is experiencing, here are some of the most common things to look out for to ensure your site is performing at its best:
404 Errors
404 errors are probably the most obvious and infamous issues which can plague a website. In simple terms, a 404 error is when a website could not access a requested page. Maybe the page was deleted, or the URL was changed; either way, a 404 error makes your website feel incomplete and sows seeds of distrust in the quality of your products and/or services.
Dead Links
The internet is a living, breathing thing. Website domains and names change, URLs get altered, and sometimes things get deleted or migrated somewhere else. So maybe that blog your business posted a year ago that linked to the perfect data point now links to… a dead link! Dead links – like 404 errors – give your site a sense of deterioration and a lack of professionalism. Ensuring that all your links are active and still linking to the proper places is extremely important for the trustability of your brand (as well as your SEO)!
Bad Navigation
Have you ever tried to find something at a store, but it’s laid out just oddly? Nothing is in the right spot, no placement makes sense, and you spend too much time searching for something simple? The same can happen on your website, too! If your website’s web design is difficult to navigate and hard to find information on, it could be hurting your chances with potential leads!
No Attention Paid to SEO
How often are you pulling fresh keyword research? Do all of your pages have meta descriptions, titles, and featured images? How much thought have you put into your headings? Do you use any plugins to see the readability and strength of a page’s SEO? If you don’t have answers to these questions, then you’re probably not doing enough! Search engine optimization is how you tell Google – as well as other search engines – what is on your website. While a user on your site may not notice if it is SEO optimized, Google surely is!
Site Not Being Indexed
Maybe your site doesn’t have any dead links or 404 errors. Possibly it is easy to navigate and understand. But you're still not getting any traffic to your site? It could be that you're not allowing your site to appear in Google search results! Indexing is where your website is “crawled” by Google, which means it reads through your website, and uses that information to know when and where your website should be shown in search results. However, sometimes pages are missed, or perhaps you accidentally opted out? Either way, it is essential that your site is being indexed, so your business can be found by your potential customers!
How Do I Fix My Site?
You should view your website – and its web design – as a living, breathing thing. You can’t just create a website: plugins will age, information will become outdated, best practices will change, and links will decay. SEO is also always in flux, with new search terms going in and out of relevance.
So how do you keep a site’s website design and SEO up to date? The best means of doing so are to keep an eye out for best practices. Accessibility – for instance – has recently become more important for websites, even possibly impacting your search engine optimization and result placement in Google search results. By remaining aware of the world of SEO web design, you can ensure your site does not fall behind the times.
On a more technical side, finding and using the right tools can help ensure that your website is working at its best. Most web builders, like WordPress, update frequently, ensuring the security and performance of your website, and can also detect broken pages, dead links, and pages that are not being indexed. By using these tools – in conjunction with other plugins – you can be on your way to ensuring your site’s web design is SEO and user-friendly.
Why You Should Trust Tucson’s Best Web Design Company
A website is truly where businesses make their first impressions in the modern age. They allow businesses to display their values, products, services, and brand voice in a place which can be customized in near infinite ways. However, it takes work to make a website perform at its best and stay that way.
With enough SEO knowledge, accessibility tools, keyword research, and time and effort, you can ensure that your website is in tip-top shape… but do you have the time to make sure everything is working at its best?
Maintaining a website is a full-time job – trust us, we speak from experience – so you may be thinking what so many Tucson business owners think: how do I have the time to maximize my site’s web design to enhance SEO? Anchor Wave is here to help.
By using Anchor Wave to build and maintain your website, you are able to run your business, with the peace of mind of knowing a team of talented Arizona web designers are keeping your website running at its very best. With Anchor Wave, usability and aesthetics meet, when we create websites that are functional and easy to navigate, but are also beautiful and engaging!
Did you know that we have actually won Best Website Design three years in a row at the Tucson Readers’ Choice Awards?!
That’s just one of the many reasons why we’re Tucson’s most trusted web design company! Check out our gallery of incredible websites we have built for Tucson companies like yours, and give us a call to schedule a consultation with a web strategist today! Make sure to ask about our 5 Trust Tipping Point Assessment for your Website, and learn the ways we can help you build brand reputation!
