Do Web Designers Know SEO?

Web Design is a world that's complicated and filled with misinformation. One common belief that goes around is that all web designers have a good grasp of Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

The fact is that this is hardly true. Majority of web designers today have no clue what SEO is and what it does, even those with degrees in Web Design are no exception.

One of my friends graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Web Design and when I inquired what they had learned about SEO in class, she just replied, "Not much."

All they were given was a definition and a little time on what the basics were. However, they never underwent training on the fine art and science of what we term as SEO. All they were told was that this type of work is usually done by an individual or company that specializes in Search Engine Optimization.

This might seem odd but it actually works great as most web designers lean more towards the "artsy" side and not really into the technical aspect of things. Of course, there are those that can easily do both but this is often rare and an exception to the rule.

This is all fine except some clients expect their web designers to optimize their site for them. Some clients think that when they hire a designer they are being handed off an optimized site which is never the case. Oftentimes, web gurus also forget to mention this little fact to their respective clients.

Hence, if you want to improve your chances of getting an awesome site that is beautifully optimized, then here are three important factors to note of:

Web Design

This is the portion where your web designer will work with you to create a beautiful site that works well for your business. Although it's mainly focused on the graphics, this is a good place to start.

Website Coding

Once you have the visual part of the design done, then it's time to code it so search engines and browsers can understand it. Designers often use programs like Adobe's Dreamweaver to help code the design but other times, companies hire professional web coders to manually do this process.

Generally, designs that are coded manually have a higher tendency to follow the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). These designs are also deemed much "lighter" and more appropriate for SEO.

Search Engine Optimization

Once the design and coding are done, it's time to start optimizing the site. Like previous items, this part should be done by an SEO specialist.

SEO specialists need to coordinate with the client and understand what their business is as well as the outcome they want to produce. Once they have the right information, they can start creating the process of keyword selection and set about optimizing every page of the site.

Aside from work done on the site, there are also SEO items that need to be done "off page." Some of these might include link building, social bookmarking, creating citations and more.

Having a successful web design requires a little more than just having a pretty site. It requires the help of several specialists in different fields in order to make the most out of a website. Now that you have a good idea of the basics, you can ask the right questions and have your site completed according to your preference.

In the end, a beautiful site is useless if it receives very little visitors and generates no business.

Article by John Neuhaus of Impact For Business, he helps local business increase revenues, grow their customer base with various methods of internet marketing in St Louis
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