Sep 21 2011

The Basics of Combining Graphic Design and SEO

People form an impression about a website during the first 1/20th of a second that they see it, based on a purely visceral reaction to its visual design elements. As SEO is all about driving traffic to a site so that it can then make conversions, this suggests the importance of graphic design for SEO. Graphic design and SEO work tougher because investing in online marketing only makes sense if the website can convert visitors to customers. A professional looking site that is clear and visually appealing can do this, while anything else weakens SEO’s effectiveness.

The visual aspects of web design for SEO are about converting that traffic. Whether that means attracting customers to visit a brick and mortar storefront, encouraging them to spend some money online, or getting them to call for a consultation to set up an appointment, the landing page does most of the heavy lifting at this point. And for the most part, simplicity and clarity should define effective graphic design. Of course aspects of contemporary design aesthetic should appear in simple things like color palette, font selection, layout, and shading. But things like fancy embedded Flash elements to play music or present animated navigation options often take away from the site’s core purpose, which is converting visitors into customers. And an extra benefit of removing Flash and other advanced media-heavy elements is that simple, anchored text links impact SEO ranking because crawlers can read them.

Graphic design and SEO also coordinate in a more explicit way. Beyond being appealing enough to capture and maintain visitors’ immediate attention, landing page text and information should reinforce the core message from the SEO content. That means repeating tested keyword phrases, supporting that message visually using images and eye-pathing, and generally achieving clear and simple communication. Any expert website graphic designer should be able to reduce the core concepts to one simple goal; visual design shouldn’t be immediately noticed or draw attention to itself, but rather should support the main message of the website.

This is easier said than done, but companies investing in SEO should keep the importance of graphic design and SEO in mind when they plan an SEO campaign. The best SEM firms will be able to help improve some basic graphic design elements during the initial website overhaul, which is often essential just to optimize the core site architecture. But even if they can’t, they should be able to recommend some effective graphic designers or at the very least coordinate with them for the sake of the project and the SEO campaign. Neglecting this aspect of maximizing SEO just undermines the SEM company’s efforts.

Ryan Farrell is a Los Angeles based search engine optimization specialist and part time web site developer. Graphic Design and SEO Can Work Together or Compete. Obviously the Former Makes More Financial Sense. 

7 Responses to “The Basics of Combining Graphic Design and SEO”

  1. Marie Haynes says:
    September 22, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    This is so true! I have been looking at SEO sites lately and I can’t believe how many of them have really poor design!

  2. martin brown@liposuction surgery says:
    September 23, 2011 at 7:00 am

    “Good” websites use progressive enhancement to layer graphics and interaction to the site as the visitor’s browser allows. While this is seemingly quaint now that IE6 is on the way out and we have a host of modern, compliant browsers, it certainly isn’t with respect to crawlers. Also this help to rank well in S.E.

  3. Angela Brown says:
    September 24, 2011 at 7:45 am

    Very well said Marie. I’m totally agree with you.

  4. Ryan says:
    September 24, 2011 at 9:18 am

    Unfortunately Good (or rather…effective) “SEO” and good looking websites don’t always go hand in hand.

    A great many people still realize that google still rewards ham handed attempts to rank for terms…such as buying the domain “best_blank_blank.com” or “free_blank_blank.com”

    Until the search engines realize that just because a website is tagged “best…etc.com” does not mean that it is in fact the most relevant site for a search term; then true SEO and web design will be tragically disconnected.

  5. musicelyrics says:
    September 24, 2011 at 10:42 am

    I really love approaching your own website! your specific technique to see things is what keeps me interested. Thank you a lot!!!!

  6. FD Thomson says:
    September 26, 2011 at 8:10 am

    I have gained some important information regarding graphic design and SEO by reading this post. Thanks for sharing this post.

  7. Seogold says:
    September 27, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    I think most of SEO’s are technical specialsts not designers, but still good content get rewarded