Why good web design is not just a pretty face

Why good web design is not just a pretty face

Think web design, and most people will imagine nice images (or videos), fonts, colours and layout. And don’t get us wrong, all of this matters. A well-designed site needs to be informative, on brand, and engage the user. But in today’s competitive digital world, your website also needs to work hard, which means not only looking good, but getting found. (Let’s be honest, what’s the point of investing in a website if no one sees it!)

And that’s where SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) comes in.

If the goal is to have a website that brings your business more business, then you need to think beyond the visuals. SEO can (and should) shape how your website is designed, right from the start.

So, how exactly does SEO influence visual design? And what steps should you take before your designer starts pushing pixels? Let’s break it down.

Start with strategy & research

Before our designer opens a single Figma file or drafts a wireframe, the foundations need to be laid. Our web process includes:

1. Keyword research

We’ll look into what search terms your ideal customers are typing into Google, and consider what problems they’re hoping to solve. Understanding this will influence:

• The structure of your site
• The navigation
• The content hierarchy
• The design of key landing pages

2. User profiling and journey mapping

It’s important to have a solid understanding of who you’re talking to. Our strategic workshop sessions cover this step, but then we’ll look at how these people behave online. What actions do you want them to take? And what do they need to see (and feel) before taking the next step?

3. Information architecture

Structuring your site according to your content and any keyword considerations is next. Not only does this ensure content is in a logical place for your users, but this helps Google understand what your site is about and improves your chances of ranking well.

How SEO shapes visual design

Now that we’ve done the research, it’s time for our designers to get to work. Here’s how SEO then influences our design choices:

🧭 Navigation and structure

Search engines love clear, simple navigation and well-thought-out menu structure. The design should also include clear visual hierarchy for headings and text. (And obviously these aren’t just for SEO – they make content easier to scan for users!)

🖼️ Optimised images

We’ve all been there – it might be an interesting website, but if the page is taking forever to load, we just give up and look elsewhere. So, while your images should be beautiful, they also need to be optimised to ensure fast loading times. Behind the superficial beauty, we also make sure our image files are named correctly – this is crucial for SEO and accessibility.

📱 Responsive design

Google now prioritises mobile-first indexing, so if your site doesn’t look (and function) great on a phone, you're already behind. Our websites are all designed to adapt beautifully across devices – whether that’s a big desktop computer, an iPad, or a phone.

📈 ‘Above-the-fold’ content

What’s visible before someone scrolls is something that matters — a lot. Important messaging, keywords, and ‘calls-to-action’ should be designed to be clearly visible on the most important pages, without cluttering the space.

Design and SEO is all about collaboration

Not everyone in our brand and web team is an SEO expert, but we do all aim to understand the basics. When our strategists, designers, web developers and SEO experts collaborate from day one, the result is a site that’s both visually compelling and search engine ready.

Because a beautiful site that nobody sees is like building a luxury shopfront in the middle of the desert. Conversely, an SEO-optimised site that’s hard to navigate or visually bland might get traffic, but will struggle to convert.

So, if you’re planning a new website (or redesigning an old one), let’s chat. The S. approach is to make sure SEO and design goes hand in hand, right from day one. Because good design (whether it’s web or anything else) doesn’t just look good on the surface — it works hard behind the scenes.

Let’s create wonder.