1. Start with Keyword Research
The keyword research stage is an essential step to take before you start writing content or developing your website structure.
Make sure that you are providing the audience with content relevant to what they are searching for.
When conducting keyword research, you will want to focus specifically on target keywords with high search volume and low to moderate competition.
Make a list of your primary keywords and secondary keywords.
You can make use of tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or Ahrefs.
2. Plan an SEO-friendly Site Structure
An SEO-friendly site structure requires :
The pages and content are organized in a logical manner.
Having a clear, logical site structure is important to allow search engines to understand and index your pages.
Keep website architecture flat and simple
Organize your pages into categories and subcategories.
Use SEO-friendly URLs with common practices:
- Use Clean, Semantic HTML Code
Search engines crawl your code to understand your site.
- Use semantic tags like
,
, ,
, and
. - Use heading tags properly:
for the page title
for sections
and beyond for sub-sections
When website is having a clean code website will have better crawlability and faster loading pages.
- Optimize Your On-Page SEO Elements
Each page should be optimized for one primary keyword.
- Title Tag: Include primary keyword in the title tag (limit: 55-60 characters).
- Meta Description: Write a compelling summary that includes the primary keyword
- Headings: Use H1, H2, and H3 to structure content and include keywords naturally.
- Image ALT Text: Describe every image using relevant keywords.
- URL Slugs: Keep them short, readable, and keyword-rich.
- Ensure Mobile-Friendliness
Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means the mobile version of your website is crawled primarily.
Utilize responsive design techniques to adapt across devices.
DON'T use flash or heavy elements that won't work on mobile.
Test with Google's Mobile-Friendly Test.
6. Improve Page Load Speed
A slow website will give only poor SEO performance. To improve page speed
- Compress images using tools like TinyPNG or WebP.
- Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.
- Enable browser caching and lazy loading for images.
- Use fast and reliable hosting.
Test with PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.
- Secure Your Website with HTTPS
Google gives ranking preference to secure websites.
- Install an SSL certificate to switch from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Secure all forms and user data collection points.
This builds trust and prevents your site from threats.
- Create SEO-Optimized Content
From the beginning, create content that provides value to users.
- Focus on quality content over quantity.
- Use your primary and secondary keywords naturally—do not stuff keywords.
- Create informative blogs, FAQs, service pages, and landing pages around main keywords.
- Internal Linking Strategy
Create internal links. Internal links help:
- Distribute page authority
- Keep users on your site longer
- Improve crawl depth
Link related pages and use descriptive anchor text (e.g., “learn more about SEO services in Kuwait” instead of “click here”).
- Integrate Google Tools from Day One
Set up essential tools to track and enhance SEO performance:
- Google Search Console: Monitor indexing, impressions, and site health.
- Google Analytics 4: Track user behavior, traffic sources, and conversions.
- Google Tag Manager: Manage marketing and tracking scripts easily.
This helps you stay on top of your SEO progress from day one.
Final Thoughts
Establishing an SEO-friendly website from the ground up isn’t only best practice, it’s a competitive advantage. When you wisely plan to design a website, use these best practices, utilize clean code, optimize content, and provide an optimal mobile experience, you have a website built to rank higher, load quicker, and convert more. If you are planning to develop a website for your business, contact a web design company that can incorporate SEO best practices during the development process.