Your website is your online store. It is a tool for you to build your brand image and attract the right audience. However, web development alone is not sufficient for the success of your site.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and web development complement each other to boost a site’s traffic and efficiency. But how can you integrate them for optimum results?
In this article, we will go over web development and SEO, how and why they are of collective importance, and different ways website development can improve SEO.
Before we jump into the details, we need to understand both of these terms separately.
Table of Contents
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is a marketing practice basically used to optimize a site’s pages to make them more accessible to the people searching for them.
In SEO, you have to take care of your website’s optimization from various angles, such as:
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
- Mobile SEO
Furthermore, keywords are used within the site’s content to boost its SEO.
For a futuristic outlook on web development read Web Development in the Age of AI: Predictions & Possibilities.
What is Web Development?
Web development is simply the practice of building a site, as well as managing and maintaining it. It is usually done by web developers who have expertise in coding.
Website development is concerned with all the operations regarding the creation of the site, how it is performing, a user’s experience on the site, speed, etc.
What makes them important?
Both web development and SEO are vital for your website to succeed in the long run.
Web development will ensure that your site is up and running smoothly. It is responsible for providing your customer with a decent platform to interact with and learn more about your brand.
SEO, on the other hand, will be making sure that your website is visible to your target audience. It will connect your site to globally famous search engines, and consequently, to a large number of people.
How do they cooperate?
The truth is that it is practically impossible for a website to thrive without combining the two – web development and SEO.
You can have a perfectly developed website, but without SEO, no one will know who you are.
Similarly, you can have a flawless SEO marketing plan in place, but without good development, no one would want to stay on your website.
So, a blend of great SEO practices and intelligent site development is the key to victory in this case.
How Can Web Development Boost Your Site’s SEO?
Now, we will look at how web development can directly improve a site’s SEO.
We will discuss 7 ways you can boost your website’s SEO through web development:
Better Speed
Did you know that on average, website users have an attention span of 8 seconds? That means no one will stick around waiting for a slow website to load.
Speed is one of the prime factors to keep in mind when it comes to operating a website. A fast-loading site that runs without any glitches is what will keep your audience hooked to your brand.
Site speed can be optimized and maintained by regularly conducting speed tests, image optimization, avoiding redirects, etc. This will help your overall SEO and bring in more impressions, clicks, and sales.
Top-Notch Security
Authentic search engines like Google look for well-protected websites to rank. A low-security site can become prey to online attacks and threats, thus hurting a search engine’s SERP rankings.
So, prioritizing security is super important for any site owner.
You can take various security measures for your website for improved SEO.
These include:
- Installing SSL (Secure Sockets Layers) & WAF (Web Application Firewall)
- Updating your site software consistently
- Moderating comment spam
- Scanning for harmful malware
Getting Rid of Duplicate Content
Having duplicate content on your website can confuse a search engine’s bots.
This can cause inconvenience for the search engine. It may not be able to decide whether or not your site should be ranked.
Duplicate content problems are often solved through:
- Google Search Console
- 301 redirects
- Canonical tags implementation
Quickly Resolve Crawl Errors
Crawl errors are commonly found on almost every other website. However, it becomes a problem when a site has too many of them.
Having many crawl errors can destroy your site’s SEO because a search engine may not find it fit to rank, as these errors interfere with user experience. Web development teams usually use Google Search Console to solve such issues.
You may also like to read Is PWA the Future of Website Development?
Implementing a Website Design that is Responsive
According to DataReportal, 92.6% of internet surfers go online using their smartphones.
Because of this, many site owners are now focusing on maintaining a responsive design on their websites – one that is compatible with mobile devices.
A mobile-friendly website design will lead to better SEO and higher search engine rankings.
Concentrating on Readability
Content is what brings a site to life. You must make sure that it is easy to read for your users.
All content on your website, from landing page to blog posts, should be readable.
It has been reported that 61% of site users have completed a purchase on a website after being influenced by its content.
JavaScript Optimization for Search Engines
This step will enable you to prove to search engines that every single page of your website is credible.
Although search engines like Google have upgraded their way of crawling JavaScript, it is still advised to do this to be on the safe side.
Conclusion
Grasping the concept of web development and SEO can help your website dominate search engines and outdo its competitors.
Hiring an experienced web development team for this purpose can generate lucrative results.
2BTech is a web development company offering a variety of web development services.
