One of the most frequent questions we get during the planning stages of a web design project is in regards to SEO.
Specifically, clients want to know what we do address search engine optimization during the time we have budgeted to designing a new site.
One of the reasons WordPress is our preferred website platform is because of its relatively quick and predictable nature for launching a search-engine friendly website.
Install WordPress, make a few tweaks to the settings, select the right theme, add the right plugins, write good content, and you are seemingly, off to the races.
Over the course of developing 500+ small business websites for Bay Area businesses, we have developed a short list of some of the best themes, plugins, and optimization tools for building out a search friendly site using WordPress.
Selecting the right theme to start is critical, and our paid WordPress themes have been handpicked for their mobile-friendliness, design- flexibility, dependability, and developer reputation for improving and supporting their themes.
Careful attention is paid to following SEO best practice during the design phase, and starts with content that is built out around what you do and the keywords people use when searching for what you provide.
If you have an existing site, we will try to maintain the page structure and permalinks where possible, and we will setup 301 redirects from old page locations to new locations where it is not possible.
Many web designers without a solid understanding of SEO fundamentals will skip this important step at a time when it matters most, so make sure you work with a web designer that has experience in site optimization, and comprehends the most critical elements.
Once your site is ready to go live, essential tracking tools like Google Analytics and Search Console will be activated, and a sitemap will be added to your site and provided to Google to help them understand and index your site’s content.
In addition to the website component, we also make sure your business is setup and your site is integrated with the most important review, directory and social sites for local optimization.
Anyone can plug in some keywords, and it is important to do so, but best practices SEO has evolved to focus on the visitor. Build a site that speaks their language, give them quality content and a great experience, and the rest will take care of itself.
The process of optimizing your site doesn’t really end, it goes on forever!
Our business website package will get you through the development to the forever-phase, including setup of the most important components, and empowering you to run with marketing.
If you are interested in talking more about launching a WordPress site for your small business, please contact us or call 925.963.1377
