Picture this: You’ve just crafted a stunning E-commerce website, putting the user first in every design decision. But when you eagerly check search engine results, your website is nowhere to be found. On the flip side, you could have gone all out optimizing your site, and hooray! It’s ranking on the first page. But hold on, as soon as a visitor lands on your site, they’re met with a clunky mess that’s impossible to navigate. Naturally, their first instinct is to bolt!
The solution is to find the right balance b/w SEO and web design. In this post, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about SEO website design, along with some top-notch SEO practices to help you strike that balance between the two.
Let’s begin!
SEO website design is the way to make your E-commerce website visible on search engines and give shoppers a good experience. SEO and website design are often seen as two different things, but they are actually very connected. SEO involves optimizing your website so that it appears higher in search results when people search for specific keywords. Website design is about making your website look good and be easy to use.
A good SEO website design will use both SEO and website design principles to create a site that is both visible on search engines and enjoyable for shoppers.
An SEO-friendly website design offers a plethora of benefits that you definitely don’t want to miss:
Search Engine Visibility: Google Search Engine has a 95.45% market share in India. A website that is optimized for search engines is more likely to be discovered by users. When your site ranks higher in search results, it becomes more visible to potential visitors. This increased visibility can lead to more organic traffic and, subsequently, more opportunities for conversions.
User Experience: Many aspects of SEO-friendly design, such as fast loading times, mobile responsiveness, and intuitive navigation, also contribute to a positive user experience. When users have a good experience on your site, they’re more likely to stay longer, explore more pages, and return in the future. In fact, 88% of first time visitors are less likely to return to your website, if they have a bad user experience.
Higher Conversion Rates: Effective SEO strategies often align with good design practices, such as clear calls to action (CTAs) and user-friendly layouts. When your site is designed with both users and search engines in mind, it can lead to higher conversion rates, whether that means making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or completing another desired action.
Competitive Advantage: In today’s digital landscape, competition is fierce. SEO-friendly design gives you an edge by ensuring your site meets the standards that search engines value. This can help you outrank competitors and attract more organic traffic, ultimately boosting your online presence.
Long-Term Benefits: SEO is a long-term strategy that continues to deliver results over time. When you invest in SEO-friendly design, you’re making an investment in the future success of your website. Well-optimized sites can maintain their visibility and rankings, even as algorithms and trends evolve.
Cost-Effectiveness: While there may be initial costs associated with optimizing your site for SEO, the long-term benefits often outweigh these expenses. Compared to other forms of online advertising, maintaining a high-quality, SEO-friendly website can be a cost-effective way to drive consistent, targeted traffic.
Cross-Device Compatibility: With the increasing use of mobile devices, having a responsive design that works seamlessly across various screen sizes is essential. An SEO-friendly website is more likely to provide a positive experience on both desktop and mobile devices, catering to a broader audience.
Now that we understand how crucial it is to have a website design that’s good for SEO, let’s look at some effective tips to make your website really impressive.
BONUS: Boost your website’s traffic and conversions with our exclusive E-commerce SEO checklist!
In the fiercely competitive E-commerce space, standing out is essential. To rise above the rest, here are the SEO website design best practices to follow:
Your domain name is your online identity, and choosing the right one is crucial for branding and SEO. Aim for a domain name that aligns with your business and incorporates relevant keywords. Additionally, opt for a reputable hosting provider to ensure your website performs optimally, offering a seamless browsing experience to visitors.
Example: For an E-commerce website selling handmade jewellery, an ideal domain name could be “craftedgems.com,” which not only represents the brand but also incorporates the relevant keyword “gems.”
ProTip: Don’t opt for a domain name that is too long, complicated, or irrelevant to your business, such as “TheBestOnlineStoreforJewelryBySaraAndMike.com.
One brilliant example here would be that of Lenskart, an eyewear retail chain. The domain name, lenskart.com, is relevant to the product niche, unique, and brandable.
Source: Lenskart
To make sure search engines can find your online store, it must be accessible to their crawlers. Use a robot.txt file and XML sitemap to help search engine bots navigate and index your site effectively. Additionally, conduct regular accessibility checks to ensure people visiting your site, including those with disabilities, can access your content effortlessly.
A well-organized information architecture is the backbone of an E-commerce site. Create clear and intuitive categories and subcategories for your products, enabling visitors to navigate through your products with ease. This logical structure doesn’t just make it easier for users but also helps search engines grasp your website’s structure, which can boost how well you rank.
ProTip: Organize your E-commerce site with clear and intuitive categories and subcategories, like “Electronics > Smartphones > Android Phones” for an electronics store. However, be careful not to overwhelm shoppers with too many categories and subcategories that make navigation confusing and convoluted.
Here’s an example from The Souled Store, a leading apparel brand:
Source: The souled store
Keep your URL structure concise, descriptive, and user-friendly. Short, keyword-rich URLs are more likely to attract clicks and improve search engine rankings. Ensure your URLs reflect the content of each page accurately, making it easier for both shoppers and search engines to understand your site’s organization.
ProTip: Optimize your URLs with relevant keywords, making them descriptive and user-friendly, such as “outdoor-furniture/wooden-patio-chairs” for a furniture E-commerce website. Don’t use generic and meaningless URLs, like “product123” or “item456,” as they provide no context to shoppers or search engines.
In June 2023, 75.06% of all online traffic came from mobile in India. This goes on to show that having a mobile-friendly E-commerce website is no longer an option; it’s a necessity. Responsive design guarantees that your website adjusts smoothly to different screen sizes and devices. Search engines prioritize mobile-friendly websites, which can lead to better rankings in mobile search results, higher traffic, and improved user engagement.
Let’s take the example of the famous E-commerce giant, Nykaa. Here’s what their desktop version looks like.
Source: Nykaa
This is what their mobile-optimized version looks like, with easy navigation:
Source: Nykaa App
Quick Tips:
Nobody likes a slow-loading website, including search engines. The speed at which your webpage loads is really important for how it ranks in search results. Making your E-commerce site faster is a must-do. The ideal load speed is typically 2-3 seconds. Compress images, reduce HTTP requests, and minify code to decrease loading times.
A quicker website makes users happier and lowers bounce rates, potentially boosting your search engine rankings. In fact, the chance of a bounce increases by 32% when a page load time goes from one to three seconds.
ProTip: Implement lazy loading for images and videos, loading content as shoppers scroll down the page, reducing initial load time. You can also limit the number of web fonts and use font subsets to reduce the impact on loading speed.
A well-designed and intuitive navigation system is critical for E-commerce websites. Create a clear and organized menu structure that allows shoppers to find products effortlessly. Don’t give shoppers too many choices all at once, and make sure important pages are easy to find from anywhere on the site.
Let’s take an example of an E-commerce website. Here’s what a bad architecture would look like:
Now, here’s what a great website optimized for an easy navigation (and some juicy traffic) would look like:
Notice how, in the former, the lack of clear categories makes it challenging for shoppers to know where to find the products they are interested in, leading to a negative user experience and potentially lost sales.
High-quality and easily readable content is essential for your product descriptions and other site elements. Ensure that your content is clear, concise, and free from grammatical errors. Engaging and informative content not only helps customers make informed decisions but also positively influences search engine rankings.
It’s crucial to select a font size, typeface, and color palette that optimize legibility and make your content easily digestible. Consider a sans-serif typeface for a modern, clean look, and aim for a font size that’s comfortable to read on various devices.
The color scheme you choose can also affect readability. Ensure a high contrast between text and background to avoid eye strain. Dark text on a light background or vice versa often works well. Keep in mind that consistent typography and a coherent color palette create a more visually appealing and professional impression.
For example, see how wonderfully Juicy Chemistry, a skincare brand, has laid out its core values here.
Source: Juicy Chemistry
Here’s another example from The House of Masaba, a premium lifestyle brand. Notice how the product description is to the point, and covers everything a buyer would like to know about the product.
Source: House of Masaba
ProTip: Maintain consistent fonts, colours, and styles throughout the website for a cohesive and user-friendly experience.
Perform comprehensive keyword research to pinpoint the most pertinent and effective keywords for your E-commerce site. Concentrate on longer phrases that match your products and what customers are looking for. Integrate these keywords smoothly into your product names, descriptions, and metadata to make sure your site is well-tuned for the right search queries.
Here are some pointers to keep in mind:
Using descriptive alt tags for your images serves two essential purposes. First, it provides context for visually impaired shoppers, improving website accessibility. Second, search engines rely on alt tags to understand the content of images, potentially leading to higher rankings in image search results.
Here are some examples of good versus bad alt tags.
Bad Alt TagsGood Alt TagsAlt=”Image001.jpg”Alt=”Blue Men’s Running Shoes – Brand XYZ”Alt=”Product Image”Alt=”Organic Coconut Oil – Cold Pressed, 500ml Bottle”Alt=”screenshot123.png”Alt=”Mobile App UI – Home Screen”Alt=”12345.jpg”Alt=”Elegant Gold Necklace with Diamond Pendant”Alt=”” (Empty Alt Tag)Alt=”Antique Brass Chandelier – Vintage Victorian Style”Alt=”s-l1600.jpg”Alt=”Designer Handbag – Leather Tote – Brown”Alt=”thumbnail-image”Alt=”Smartphones – Latest Android & iOS Models”Alt=”product-photo”Alt=”Deluxe Chef’s Kitchen Knife Set – 6 Pieces”Alt=”IMG_9876.jpg”Alt=”Stylish Women’s Cat-Eye Sunglasses – UV Protection”Alt=”pic_098.jpg”Alt=”Handcrafted Artisan Ceramic Coffee Mug – Set of 4″
Renaming your image files with relevant keywords can have a positive impact on SEO. Avoid generic filenames like “image1.jpg” and instead use descriptive file names that reflect the image’s content. This practice can make your images more discoverable and enhance your site’s overall SEO.
Create distinct and captivating meta titles and descriptions for every page on your online store. Well-optimized metadata helps search engines understand the relevance of your content, potentially leading to higher rankings. Additionally, well-written meta descriptions can encourage shoppers to click through to your site, improving click-through rates and organic traffic.
Here’s an example of how Sugar Cosmetics ensures that the person looking for a long-lasting lipstick would find their product by highlighting the same in their meta description.
Source: Sugar Cosmetics on Google Search
When it comes to meta titles, while it is great to have a short and crisp meta title, it is also important to ensure they are specific, descriptive, and include important details about the products. Here are some examples:
Good Meta TitlesBad Meta TitlesElegant Women’s Floral Print Summer DressProducts for WomenCold Pressed Organic Coconut Oil – 500ml BottleCoconut OilLatest Android & iOS Smartphones – Best DealsPhones for SaleGenuine Brown Leather Men’s Wallet – Multiple Card SlotsMen’s AccessoriesVintage Victorian Style Antique Brass ChandelierChandelier for HomePremium Blue Men’s Running Shoes – Brand XYZRunning ShoesHandcrafted Artisan Ceramic Coffee Mug – Set of 4Coffee MugsDesigner Laptop Backpack – Water-ResistantBackpacks for SaleDeluxe Chef’s Kitchen Knife Set – 6 PiecesKitchen KnivesStylish Women’s Cat-Eye Sunglasses – UV ProtectionSunglasses
ProTip: Don’t use duplicate or generic meta tags across multiple pages, missing the opportunity to differentiate your pages in search results. Remember, the more unique the content, the more chances of ranking higher on the SERPs.
Ensure that all important pages of your E-commerce website are correctly indexed by search engines. Apply the “noindex” tag to pages you don’t want showing up in search results. This is useful for pages with the same content or pages that show search results within your website. Regularly check for any indexation issues and address them promptly to maximize your site’s visibility.
Here are a few simple tips you can put into action:
Adhering to web accessibility guidelines is not only a moral imperative but also crucial for SEO and user experience. Make sure your website is accessible to all shoppers, including those with disabilities. This not only enhances inclusivity but also reflects positively on search engine rankings.
Wondering where to begin? This can help:
Internal linking is a powerful SEO strategy that improves site navigation and search engine understanding of your website’s content structure. Link related product pages and relevant content within your site to guide shoppers to valuable information and improve overall user experience.
For example, notice how Myntra provides a “View Similar” button on all their products. This then leads the user to similar products on the same page, ensuring that the user gets a chance to look at other products. Genius!
Source: Myntra
ProTip: Don’t overstuff pages with excessive internal links or use irrelevant anchor text, which can confuse shoppers and negatively impact SEO.
With Kartify’s E-commerce platform, you can build SEO-friendly website designs and watch your digital presence and sales skyrocket! We’ve already helped over 200+ D2C brands level up their online game. The best part? Kartify seamlessly integrates with 50+ third-party tools, making managing your E-commerce business a breeze. Plus, our support team is there for you every step of the way, from migration to beyond. You get complete control over your store’s look and feel with our highly customizable, mobile-responsive platform. Rest easy knowing your store and customer data are secure with our top-notch data security measures.
Ready to take your E-commerce game to the next level? Kartify has got your back! Talk to us today.
