Hold on, my friend! You thought SEO is the only magic trick to ace Google Search? Nah, you gotta mix some more ingredients into that potion. Imagine SEO and web development as a dynamic duo - Batman and Robin, if you will. Without a snazzy, user-friendly website, all that SEO goodness just fizzles out. They’re like cookies and milk, totally meant for each other.

SEO alone is not enough to help you achieve your dream. There are innumerable other factors you need to juggle together in order to get the best position on Google Search. Web development is one factor that goes hand in hand with SEO. Without a user-friendly website, your SEO strategies would only go to waste.

What is SEO? 

SEO is search engine optimization, a collection of strategies designed to help websites achieve higher rankings on Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). The higher the search ranking, the easier it will be for your target audience to see your brand, content, and products. 

What is Web Development? 

Web development is building, launching, and maintaining web applications. Developers ensure that all of the technical aspects of the site and app are functional, both front and back end. 

If you want high rankings on SERPs, you have come to the right place. We have compiled the top-ranking secrets that will definitely get you there. 

Let’s dive into these awesome secrets that will send you rocketing up the Google Search ranks.

1. Give Some Love to the Mobile Users 📱

Hey, it’s 2023! Practically everyone's thumbs are scrolling through phones like it's an Olympic sport. Google caught on to this a while back. They made mobile-friendliness a ranking factor in 2015, and in 2017, they were all about that mobile-first indexing life.

And let’s be real, if your website acts like a puzzle on mobile devices, you're waving goodbye to a massive chunk of your audience. So, spruce up that site for the phone scrollers. Show Google that you’re hip, and they’ll be like, “Oh hey, let’s boost this cool site on our SERPs.”

2. Don’t Let Ugly Design Ruin Your Content’s Party 🎨

Your content is like the lead singer of your band, but what if it’s stuck behind a wall of sound? Your website design shouldn't be that wall. Cluttered designs, migraine-inducing color schemes, and a zillion hyperlinks can make your readers run for the hills.

The greatest cheerleader of SEO is your web content. How can you boost your SEO if your content is hidden from a poorly designed website?

Hindering readers from finding what they are looking for can negatively impact your chances of being picked by Google Search. Your choice of the website’s color palette and unnecessary additions of hyperlinks have a significant impact on your rankings. Moreover, information overload accompanied by hard-to-read fonts is an example of content mismanagement. 

Such websites turn away readers and are thus neglected by Google Search. The solution to this lies in hiring web designers for your work. These people are already familiar with suitable designs to attract the target audience. Thus, they can be trusted if you want to productively manage SEO and web design.

Don’t even get me started on slow loading times. You know when you’re waiting for that delicious pizza delivery and every second feels like an eternity? Yeah, web pages are like that too.

Get a web designer onboard. They’re like the stylists of the internet world. They’ll give your site that makeover it desperately needs. Plus, make your site inclusive! Cater to folks with disabilities. It's not just awesome for them, but Google will dig it too.

3. Put on Your Running Shoes: Speed is Key 🏃💨

Picture this: you’re in a hurry, and you’re stuck behind the world’s slowest walker. Frustrating, right? That's how users feel about sluggish websites. If your site takes longer than two seconds to load, you’re in the danger zone. People are going to click away faster than you can say “Wait!”.

A lesser-known but fundamental fact is that your web design can slow down your website. Nowadays, people are always in a hurry. They would most likely rather go with the next best option than wait for the current one to respond. Thus, it is probably because of slow website speed if you have not been getting ample traffic.

Website speed greatly impacts technical SEO and is a known ranking factor. Always remember that your idea of quick may differ with the extent to which people can wait. Set an ideal loading time of a maximum of two seconds. 

One second more, and you can lose half of the users who would have stayed otherwise. This is an even more salient feature affecting mobile device decisions. Not only popular with the audience, but website speed also has a notable effect on Google Search. With a lagging speed, your website may not even be considered by it altogether.

Another tip that works really well is to build an all-inclusive web design format. When you cater to people with disabilities, you have a higher chance of being noticed by Google Search.

Website speed greatly impacts technical SEO and is a known ranking factor. Always remember that your idea of quickness may differ with the extent to which people can wait. Set an ideal loading time of a maximum of two seconds. 

Keep your site zippy! Especially on mobile. Google will totally swipe left on a slowpoke site.

4. Sitemaps: It’s Like Google’s GPS 🗺️

Think of sitemaps like the treasure maps for search engines. They’re like, “Yo Google, check out this cool stuff on my site!” Sitemaps guide Google to your best content without having to check every nook and cranny.

For example, if you're running a blog about exotic plants, your sitemap can highlight your top posts, guiding Google straight to your juiciest content.

And guess what? Sitemaps aren’t just flirting with Google; they’re also helping your users navigate easily. Win-win!

Sitemaps are your way of indirectly communicating with search engines. They offer a brief guide to search engines, making them aware of the content that lies within your website. They hold metadata about your website, giving them a higher chance of achieving extreme rankings. This way, Google Search can crawl through your website without going through every page. 

Sitemaps also aid search engines in determining the important pages in your website that could be of help. For most large websites, this technique can work wonders. This is the way to go for newer ones with no external links. 

Apart from making a great impression on Google Search, sitemaps also help in user navigation. When users know where they can get what they are looking for, it makes their work easy. This means they are more likely to revisit your website. Thus, incorporating a sitemap in your web design can be a great way of maintaining SEO. 

5. First Impressions and Trust: Get that Handshake Right 🤝

You know that awesome feeling when you meet someone new and you just click? Your website should do that with visitors. A sleek, intuitive design with accessible information makes users feel like they’re in good hands.

For instance, if you're selling homemade candles, have a cozy, welcoming design with easy-to-find info about the scents and materials you.

Gaining the trust of your audience regulates your website’s ranking to a great extent. First impressions play a huge role in maintaining users’ trust. If users like their first interaction with the website, they will most likely visit it again.

Most people expect to see an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere with information at their fingertips. These factors govern what a user’s experience would be like when they visit a website. Users automatically form a trusting relationship with that web page if it is up to the mark. 

It also concludes the amount of time a user would spend on your website. Your website may have every answer to the user’s questions. But if its design is outdated, they might not spend much time on it. 

Besides, it can even make the user think that you are not interested in putting too much effort into the website. This would naturally draw them away and thus reduce your chances of being navigated by Google Search.

So, What’s the Deal? 🎩

Let’s wrap this up in a shiny bow: To be the rockstar of Google Search, SEO and web development gotta be in sync like a well-choreographed dance number. Don't skimp on mobile-friendliness, give your site a killer design, make sure it’s as fast as a cheetah, guide Google with sitemaps, and build trust with your audience from the get-go.

Ready to be the champion of SERPs? Put these tips into action and watch your website soar.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. We're super psyched that our OrbitWeb blog made it to one of the best Canadian SEO blogs according to Feedspot. 

That’s right, we’re in the big leagues, baby! So keep coming back for more delightful insights and tricks up our sleeves. 🚀

Cheers to your success! 🎉