SEO for Web Designers Los Angeles: Best Practices Clap Creative As Web Designers Los Angeles, are we diametrically opposed to search engine optimization? We know that, at its center, web design is about elevating bland information on a screen into something aesthetically delightful and intuitively recognizable. t!s also about communicating an idea with other humans. "ave men had cave paintings, Ancient #gyptians had hieroglyphs, modern man has web design. $es, it!s %ust that important.&o, what happens when the message you!re trying to communicate to other humans must first pass through the unrelenting eye of an emotionally crippled robot? 'hat robot cannot compute the value of aesthetics. (n the contrary, it can only operate off of its limited algorithm.'his is precisely why many designers have given up trying to please the robot called (.)o matter what *ollywood tells us, robots aren!t the enemy. +ust like us, robots are on a mission to contribute value to web users. What is SEO?( stands for &earch #ngine (ptimization. t!s the strategy of developing and improving your website so that it ranks highly on search engine result pages, preferably on the first page of results. We know that at least ,-. of searchers never scroll past page / on 0oogle. 'his means that we must make it to the first page in order to be considered by the vast ma%ority of searchers. Why is SEO Important to Web Designers?'he 1uick answer? 2ecause it!s important to your clients.'he longer answer? According to this research, over -,/ websites are created every second. #very second. With all of those websites, your own website has the high probability of being lost forever in the abyss known as 32eyond 4age / of 0oogle5Top 9 Best PracticesLet!s take a look at the top 6 best ( practices for web designers. 1. Site StructureWhen it comes to (, the structure of your website is one of the most important factors. &ite structure is all about how your web pages link together. &earch engine crawlers %udge your site!s value based on the way it!s set up. 7ile hierarchy and site maps play crucial roles in whether or not you get a high ranking page.f you want to be found by the ma%ority of visitors searching for your associated keyword, nothing will get you there and keep you there faster than a logical layout that!s easy to crawl. 8emember, if the robots are happy, everyone!s happy.As a basic practice, don!t allow radical, rebel, isolated pages on your site with no links in or out. As a healthy website, all of your pages should be connected and functional. t should also flow logically and efficiently. 2. Easy a!igationAlong with logical flow, navigation must be a top priority for any web designer who!s interested in search engine optimization.7or navigation, shallow is better. With a shallow architecture, users are able to access any page in as few links as possible. 'his also refers back to site architecture.'here!s good news for +ava&cript aficionados9 0ooglebot can now process +ava&cript. *owever, that!s not an invitation to go crazy with +ava&cript menus, because the crawlers are still very limited, and may give up when they encounter complicated language.When it comes to navigation, don!t try to reinvent the wheel. :ake it simple, make it short ;eight options or less