Designing Disasters: 3 Non-SEO Friendly Web Design Techniques to Avoid

Every element of a website contributes to its SEO value in one way or another. In the case of web design, it is responsible for providing a seamless, flawless experience to every visitor. The problem, however, is that not all design elements contribute toward this objective. There are some techniques that actually provide an adverse effect on SEO.

Here are three of them:

Endless Scrolling

First on the list is endless scrolling, a useful technique many designers misunderstand. Most people think that this is great because it removes the need for users to click.

This is a misconception, though. If a user has a specific item in mind, adopting an endless scroll layout may not help the user find what they are looking for easily. The lack of navigation would be a disadvantage to the usability and conversion rate of a website. When you want to use this technique, you have to make sure that your design remains SEO-friendly.

Hamburger Menu

The second common technique that appears on websites is the concept of a hamburger menu. Sure, it looks good and it declutters the website. But ask any SEO company Perth expert and you would know that hamburger menus are only for mobile users.

If this appears as a default design element, it could ruin the UX – which may also have a negative impact on SEO. The best practice is to avoid confusing the visitors. You have to be clear where the navigation buttons are, even if it means removing the hamburger menu in the process.

Parallax

Let’s be honest; parallax looks cool on a website. But whilst it is aesthetically pleasing, it can be counterproductive in terms of SEO.

The design itself requires quite a lot of workarounds to dodge a string of SEO issues. If the designer fails to implement this correctly, the website’s rankings can possibly take a hit. Also, it is imperative to make the parallax experience as fluid as possible. Otherwise, it would just fall short.

The design of a website should blend well with its SEO efforts. To avoid any trouble with the search engines, the best practice is to avoid these techniques altogether. But if site owners want to risk it, they should double check what goes into the code to ensure that the SEO strategy remains solid.