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Leave Room for SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is central to website development. It helps your site rank higher and draws more visitors. Avoid leaving SEO implementation until after the launch. Plan your SEO strategy at the start of site development. Follow a checklist to ensure that the best practices are followed.

There are many tweaks related to SEO that are best done during site design. It may be tough to implement these after the site goes live.

A few of these best practices are:

• Create SEO friendly URLs
• Include relevant keywords right at the start
• Create SEO-friendly meta tags and descriptions
• Create an XML Sitemap
• Use quality images with small file sizes
• Check regularly for broken links

Check during each phase if the above items are working as planned. Optimize as much as possible during website design. This makes your site load quicker and delivers a great customer experience.

Implement a Secure Design with HTTPS

Adding HTTPS security to your website makes it hard to hack. Developers assume that this is a requirement only for sites handling sensitive data. This is not true. HTTPS security is important for all websites to prevent unauthorized access. It builds trust among users and search engines alike.

Security framework must be part of your website design. HTTPS protects the data and privacy of your users online. It prevents cybercriminals from accessing activity on your site. It has become much easier to obtain an HTTPS certificate now compared to a few years before. Do not ignore this crucial best practice, which has a big impact on your site and your users.

Contact Big City Marketing for a consultation. We are one of the premier website design companies in Montgomery, AL. We can guide you on the steps you can take to secure your site.

Make Your Site Mobile Responsive

Your users may use your site on a computer or a mobile phone. They expect to have a consistent experience on both platforms. Making it look great and secure on a mobile phone must never be ignored. Work on responsive web design right from the start of the development process.

Plan your website layout in such a way that it appears uncluttered on a small mobile screen. 

Test your site on various screen sizes through all phases of development. Optimize images for mobile so that they load soon and take up less space. Responsive design plays a key role in your SEO effort too.

Our company is one of Montgomery’s leading website design companies with years of experience designing mobile sites. We design sites with easy navigation for mobile users. This makes it easier for them to find their desired information on the site.

Employ Top Design Practices

Website design plays an important role during development. Planning your site design is key to a stable website. Good design comes from user research and following best practices. Start by planning how users will navigate your site.

Use relevant content and images to present an attractive look and feel to the site. If you are a business site, make sure that landing pages are designed well. Key product pages must have the right calls to action for better lead generation. 

Use design elements in a way that increases the site speed. Embed social media handles in key locations to grab your user’s attention. Remove social media handles that are not active. 

Don’t display too much information on the same page. If you are a business site, try and create a separate page for each product. Reducing the number of product choices per page increases conversions and sales!

Focus on User Experience

The first impression of your website from users is the key to increased visits and sales. User experience design is a key element of website development. It helps to engage customers.

Good design makes it easier for them to find information. Test your site with different groups of people. If one group finds it difficult to use, it probably needs refinement. 

Some benefits of great user experience design are:

• Good design saves cost in the long run
• Increases site popularity
• Engages the right target audience
• Generates stronger call to action

Focus on your content placement. This is a key element of any great user experience. Your content must be crisp and relevant to engage users.

At Big City Marketing in Montgomery, we live and breathe great user experience design. Our web design experts in Montgomery, AL, provide the right direction and insights for your website to meet your business goals. 

Plan for a Future-proof Site

Always have a long-term vision for your website. Something that works great today may be obsolete in a few months or years. Research the latest web design and development trends in the industry. Your website must be future proof.

You should not have to change the website code or design every few years to catch up with new technology. This not only creates a poor user experience but hampers your SEO efforts. Use a technology and design framework which is stable and secure. 

Use a hosting company with a good reputation for speed and security. This ensures that all your data is regularly backed up if it needs to be retrieved in the future. 

Finally, make the site as mobile-friendly as possible.

The future is mobile, and a site designed for it will stay relevant without making major changes for years to come.

Effective project management is important to deliver a quality website on time. Creating a website is a long process. It pays to have a good system to manage all the tasks related to the project.

Starting work on a website without planning is a recipe for disaster. Plan each phase carefully and leave enough buffer time in case of any setbacks.

A tip for efficient project management is to follow a standard methodology. Popular ones include Agile and Lean. There are plenty of free and paid project management tools that can keep your website development project on track.

Use these tools to plan the design and development tasks. Generate daily reports to see if any website tasks are falling behind and prioritize them over others.