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Navigating the digital landscape can be daunting for many small business owners, especially when creating a website that meets both technical standards and customer expectations. The world of web development is filled with fast-changing trends, jargon, and a sea of acronyms which can make the process feel overwhelming. However, having a familiarity of a few fundamental web development concepts can allow business owners to significantly enhance the quality and functionality of their website. That leads to a better user experience, stronger online presence, and ultimately more customer engagement.
This guide focuses on three essential concepts that play a crucial role in a website’s success: responsive design, search engine optimization (SEO), and accessibility. We hope that by explaining these concepts, we’re equipping business owners with the ability to make better informed decisions, leading to an internet landscape that’s not only more visually appealing but also more accessible, searchable, and responsive
Responsive Design
What is Responsive Design?
Since its inception, the internet has been accessed by devices with a wide range of screen sizes. There is no set standardization for screen sizes – an issue that has become more obvious with the increased use of mobile phones and tablets.
Responsive design is a web development approach aimed at solving this problem. Ideally, it ensures websites function seamlessly across all device types. At the core of this approach is “mobile-first” development, a strategy that prioritizes the design and functionality for mobile devices before adapting to larger screens.
Developers begin with mobile phones because all resources are more limited. Phone screens have less surface area, less computing resources (although advancements in modern smartphones are changing this), and are often used in places with slower, less stable internet connection.
In a mobile-first approach, the design is intentionally simplified to prioritize essential content and easy navigation, creating a fast and accessible experience on smaller screens. After perfecting the mobile experience, developers then scale up to larger devices, adding more features and visual elements as screen space and computational resources allow. This progression all users enjoy an enhanced experience, regardless of the device they’re using.
Why Does It Matter?
Recent data suggest that mobile devices now account for over half of all global web traffic, underscoring the importance of websites that perform well across a range of devices. With screen sizes ranging from small smartphones to large desktop monitors, a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work. Websites that aren’t optimized for these varying screen dimensions can suffer from issues such as distorted images that appear stretched or cropped, text that is either too small to read or awkwardly positioned, and navigation elements that become difficult to access on touchscreens.
For instance, a navigation menu that works well on a desktop may require a complete redesign for mobile, where space constraints call for more streamlined layouts, like collapsible menus or icons. If these adjustments aren’t made, mobile users may find the website frustrating to navigate and leave before engaging. Similarly, images that load slowly or cause layout shifts can lead to poor first impressions and reduce the likelihood of users returning.
When users encounter a website that doesn’t look right on their device, they’re likely to look elsewhere. Responsive design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about upholding performance across devices to ensure that your website can meet the needs of a diverse audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is a strategic approach to enhancing a website’s visibility on search engines like Google. The goal of S EO is to improve a website's ranking on search results pages (SERP), helping potential customers find it more easily.
SEO is supported by a concept called domain authority. Domain authority is essentially a value that reflects the perceived credibility (or “authority”) that a website holds within a particular industry and location.
Domain authority is calculated based on several factors – far too many to go over in this article alone. Here, we will briefly touch on two different areas that can influence your SEO ranking: on-site and off-site. The on-site category includes anything that can be directly influenced by updating your company’s website, whereas the off-site category includes things that are affected by components not on your company’s website.
On-Site SEO
- Code structure: A well-built website helps improve SEO by making it easier for search engines to read your website. Search engines use programs called “web crawlers” to ingest your website and categorize it appropriately. These crawlers don’t look at websites the way humans do; instead, they directly read the underlying code behind the website. That’s where it’s important to make sure the code they see is well-organized and semantically sound.
- Website performance: Your website performance directly ties to something called a “bounce rate”. Your website’s bounce rate is the rate at which new users view only a single page on your website before leaving. A slow website (load times > 2 or 3 seconds) leads to people leaving before the page even loads!One caveat here is that bounce rate isn’t a direct consideration by search engines when ranking your website. However, user traffic typically suffers due to poor performance, and that is a direct consideration. That makes website performance an important factor when improving SEO.
- Internal linking: Internal links connect different pages within your website, helping users and search engines navigate your content. A strong internal linking structure improves "link equity," or the distribution of page authority across your site as a whole. For example, linking from a popular blog post to a product page can help boost the visibility of the product page, improving the likelihood of the product page ranking higher in search results.
- Metadata: Metadata can be thought of as “content about your content”. It’s not something your end users typically see; instead, your website provides search engines with metadata to assist their indexing of your content. The importance of metadata has evolved over time, but it’s still a key factor in SEO ranking.
Off-Site SEO:
- External linking: External links to your pages play a role in credibility. It signals an interest in your website’s content and aids search engines categorization. An important caveat here: not all external links are the same! The most beneficial links are from well-established external sources with high domain authority themselves.
- Social media presence: This helps your SEO in two ways: increased traffic, and faster content indexing. Social media makes it easier for your website’s content to be shared, which can route traffic to your website. It also serves as a way for new users to be introduced to your website. Social media is also crawled more frequently than other websites, so search engines will become familiar with your content faster than they otherwise would be.
Why It Matters
Higher search engine rankings make it significantly easier for potential customers to find your website. When your site appears at the top of search results, users are more likely to click through, which increases the volume of organic traffic reaching your pages. Unlike paid ads, organic traffic has a compounding effect, as users who discover your site through searches are often actively looking for products, services, or information related to what you offer. This high-intent traffic can ultimately lead to increased engagement, longer session durations, and, most importantly, higher conversion rates as these visitors are more likely to take desired actions—whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or reaching out for services.
Accessibility
What is Web Accessibility?
Web accessibility ensures that websites are usable by people with disabilities, covering a wide range of needs. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a set of standards to help developers make websites accessible, with three compliance levels: A, AA, and AAA. Most businesses should aim for at least level AA compliance, which covers the essential accessibility features.
Web accessibility is a deep subject that covers a lot of specific aspects of web design and implementation. We aren’t going to touch on all of them in this article (but we are working on a more comprehensive article dedicated to the subject, so check back soon!)
Common Accessibility Concerns
- Vision: The internet is, first and foremost, a visual medium. That can make the internet a challenging place for people with visual impairments. Even something as common as partial color blindness can render a website’s content inaccessible!
- Motor Skills: There are plenty of users who interact with the internet with some sort of motor impairment. Included in that group are those without a permanent disability; temporary injuries can render the use of your hands impractical. That means literally anyone could find themselves accessing the internet via assistive devices!
- Cognitive: Not all impairments are physical: your website will likely be used by people with cognitive disabilities, too. Developers and content creators should aim to make your content as clear and straightforward as possible, and use visual aids whenever possible. Complex features, such as forms accepting sensitive user data, need to take particular care in ensuring their intent is clear.
Why it matters
To state the obvious, it’s the right thing to do. If you had a disability, wouldn’t you still want to be able to use the internet?
Moral implications aside, neglecting accessibility could be leaving money on the table. According to recent CDC data, more than 25% of the US population has some type of disability. Not all of these people have disabilities that directly impede their ability to use the internet, but a lot of them do. That’s a ton of potential clients you could be missing out on by failing to make your website suitable for them!
A lack of accessibility consideration can also cause legal issues. Many jurisdictions hold businesses accountable if their websites don’t meet accessibility standards. This can make your website a liability if proper design and development practices aren’t followed.
Conclusion
Whether you’re looking to roll up your sleeves and make a website yourself, or hire someone to make one for you, everyone looking to build a website should be familiar with the concepts of responsive design, SEO, and accessibility.
Building a successful website involves far more than just a visually appealing design; it requires a holistic approach that combines functionality, visibility, and inclusivity. Understanding and implementing these core principles allows business owners to create a site that meets diverse user needs, enhances discoverability, and stands out in today’s competitive digital landscape.