A significant portion of web design is making sure the website is tailored to be found among the haystack that is Google or other search engines.  Because we see the front design of websites, we do not often think of the intelligent design in the background.  For example, when you search for “web design Lafayette, LA,” Google pulls up lists of websites that are optimized for the tags “web design” and “Lafayette, LA” or “web design Lafayette, LA.” 

SEO best practices start early on in the web design process.  Understanding the needs of a business and their clients/customers is key to understanding how people will search the web for these web sites. Researching keywords and on-site SEO are the most common SEO best practices. 

Researching keywords is how you determine websites like yours are being found.  A pool builder’s website in Louisiana will benefit from having the keyword “swimming pool builder Louisiana” present early on in the content of their website (like at the top with the tagline “The premier swimming pool builder in Louisiana”).  Titles for pages matter too.  If there is a keyword you wish to rank for, put that keyword at the front of the title.  For example, an excellent title for a blog article for the pool company would be “Swimming Pool Builders in Louisiana: Gunite or Fiberglass?”  If not possible, that is okay too.  Making sure the content is legible and makes sense is just as important.  

On-site SEO is the practice of optimizing elements on a website to generate more relevant traffic to that website. With on-site optimization, search engines have an easier time of interpreting if a website is relevant to a user’s search. The goal of on-site SEO is to allow users and search engines to quickly and easily understand what a page is about, identify that page as relevant to their search and find that page useful.