January 14, 2021 | Posted in: Search | Web Design
No-frills designs have taken the web development industry by storm. Iconic brands like Apple as well as newcomers like Tesla have reduced clutter and narrowed their design language to the simplest form possible… but does that work for small companies with less brand power?
Over the last few years, we’ve had clients approach us with bold ideas for new websites like a barebones homepage with only one paragraph or having their entire site exist as a single page. Simple aesthetics along those lines can be eye-catching and help focus users on what’s most important… but implemented incorrectly, that light approach to content can harm your search visibility and cut into your bottom line.
A fundamental principle of search engine optimization (SEO) is that you need to give Google a very clear understanding of what products and services you offer. Every beginner SEO is taught “content is king,” referring to Google’s seemingly endless appetite for more written content on webpages. Your website needs to specifically describe to Google what types of search terms you deserve to rank for. To their algorithm, a picture is not worth 1000 words! There is a very strong correlation between higher word-counts and better organic rankings.
When building a new website or updating an existing one, consideration of Google and organic rankings should always be included in the planning.
What Google looks for: Plenty of well-written & descriptive content.
Another reason modern design trends have gone minimal is the increase in internet-enabled mobile and wireless devices. When users are accessing your content on a cellular connection, anything unnecessary should be eliminated. Keeping designs lean can help decrease load times.
It’s great to look at some of the largest companies in the world and strive for their level of success, but in terms of web design, they play in a very different arena. In the same way you wouldn’t lease a similar square footage to them, you should not be building the same type of website.
Brands like Nike have so many high-authority incoming links and are referenced so frequently that Google already knows what type of products they offer before even crawling their homepage. At that level of authority, they are able to do just about anything they want without losing their rankings.
As you click through, notice how much written content the Range Marketing SEO team is still able to include in the pages. Reducing clutter and including plenty of whitespace keeps the sites feeling “clean” while rich content tells Google what those businesses offer.
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