Implementing SEO Techniques in Website Design - Search Engines - SE Optimization

It's not often said, but people come across SEO techniques when it's too late. Although we all understand the importance of good search engine rankings and generating substantial traffic to our websites or blogs, we don't necessarily think of SEO techniques as something which should be utilised alongside website design.

Here, then, are 3 SEO techniques that should always be an integral part of any website design process:

Choosing Key Words and Phrases

Perhaps the most important SEO technique is selecting keywords or phrases. Keywords or phrases should be ones that people are actually going to search for. However, if the top ten search engine rankings for a particular keyword or phrase are dominated by major companies, it may be worthwhile making use of a keyword tool (such as Google AdWord's Keyword Tool) to find a similar term which might offer you more success.

Another thing to consider is whether your keywords or phrases actually relate to the content on your site. If it doesn't, you might end up seeing high sources of traffic undermined by low conversion rates.

On-Site SEO

SEO specialists can optimise a website that has already been designed, but it's a lot easier to implement SEO techniques during the design process. At this point, URLs, title tags and meta tags (all components of a site which describe it to search engines) can be optimised rather than having to edit them at a later point. They should all contain important keywords and phrases which will be used in other SEO techniques.

Content & Copy Writing

If at all possible, content and copy for your website should be written early with SEO techniques in mind. Whilst it is important that your website reads well for visitors, utilising some basic SEO techniques such as improving keyword density and prominence (try Rank's Keyword Density & Prominence Analyzer) and linking to relevant pages on the site, can all help improve search engine rankings. Making these conscious decisions whilst the site is being designed saves time and money later.