Hiring a Pittsburgh web design firm isn't always about search engine optimization, organic traffic and ROI or conversion rates. While these factors do weigh heavily in the algorithms major search engines use to find and rank your site, the actual functionality of your pages are possibly the most critical component. This is because if these items don't function correctly, it's likely that your site will be abandoned not only by real human users, but almost certainly by search bots and spiders as well. Therefore, understanding how functionality affects user experience and SERP placement is critical when considering a Pittsburgh web design firm.
Pittsburgh Web Design – Site Navigation
Site navigation is equally as important to search engines as it is to human users. Nav bars must be clearly visible, not misleading and deliver the user or bot quickly to the promised referenced page. Broken site navigation leads to higher bounce rates, less time on site and fewer pages viewed while on site, which will all serve to lower a site's position for keywords when compared to competitors that are properly optimized in this regard.
But when it comes to search bots and spiders, broken navigational functions can mean lower keyword ranking, fewer instances of indexing, lack of inner page indexing, and in severe cases, de-indexing of the site.
Pittsburgh Web Design – Links
Because search engines like Google rely so heavily on links to rank and categorize websites and web pages, broken links on your site can have a severely detrimental effect. This is not only because search bots will be unable to follow and spider off of broken links, but also because broken or incorrect linking leads to a poor user experience – a factor that will heavily affect the rankings of any website.
Pittsburgh Web Design – Forms
Some forms can be installed and managed using a simple plugin, but others are custom-built and can be far more difficult to manage. And because forms are the primary way that consumers will interact with your website and provide valuable personal data, non-functional website forms can kill what would otherwise be a high-performing site. Even simple forms may have errors from time to time, and while search engines generally don't "follow" or "index" these portions of your website, they will penalize a site based on poor traffic performance related to broken or missing form elements.
Pittsburgh Web Design – Content
Content is generally the primary reason that traffic comes to a particular site in the first place. Therefore, a proper website design is one that has fully functioning content. This may come in the form of videos, articles, blog posts, games, poems, reference material, and much more. Ensuring that all of these items are functional, relevant to the user and provide real value to the site is a critical part of dominating your specific markets or niches.
Ultimately Pittsburgh web design is all about the user experience – if the experience is a poor one, then your site is likely to be categorized accordingly. This is why it's absolutely critical to realize just how connected web design and SEO really is. To learn more or to get started with a free, professional consultation, simply call the number at the top of your screen now. We are widely considered to be one of the most effective dedicated web design and Pittsburgh SEO firms in the country – although our clients come to us from all over the world.
Find out for yourself now with a fast, free consultation. You've got nothing to lose, and potentially a whole new world of clients and conversions to realize.
