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User Engagement for SEO
We design websites for both people and SEO Pretoria search engines. When designing for users, it is always good to look at your website and content from a fresh perspective. Mainly, how engaging is your content and are you already bored with the site? User engagement is a ranking factor for Google, even if it is indirectly.
Pages per Session for SEO
The pages per session metric indicated how many pages a user views before leaving your website. This metric along with average session is important for your SEO Pretoria factors. What these metrics means is how interactive and engaging your website is, from a navigational perspective.
• Look for opportunities to encourage linger session durations or more pages-per-session
• Insert call-to-action on pages to encourage conversions
• Provide additional navigation options within content, such as placing links in the body content or providing related reading materials.
Bounce Rate for SEO
Bounce rate can either be positive or negative, depending on how you look at it. Your bounce rate indicates how satisfied users are with your landing page or website. High bounce rates indicate that your pages aren't engaging and don't satisfy user intent. Bounces can also indicate that they are.
• Tell a story or lead with a compelling hook
• Get rid of intrusive interstitials and pop-up advertisements
• Improve page load times
• Ensure landing page copy is relevant to search queries
Click-Through Rate for SEO
Your website listing is the first interaction a user has with your site, CTR is one indicator whether if that interaction was successful. A low CTR could indicate that your message is not relevant to a user search. It could also indicate that your meta description or title tag is not compelling enough.
• Insert exact match keywords in title tags and meta descriptions so they are bolded
• Add a benefit of clicking on the page into your meta description
• Ensure your tags are the proper length so they do not get truncated
Technical Structure for SEO
We need to consider how our technical structure is impacting user engagement and our keyword rankings. Without a solid foundation, your house of content will crumble.
Crawlability for SEO
To get indexed, your website needs to be crawled. Search engine crawlers only have access to the links provided in your sitemap and is available from your home page. This makes the use of interlining very important.
• Create a sitemap using your CMS and submit it manually through Google Search Console
• Block all pages you do not want to be crawled or indexed by placing them under the disallow file of your robots.txt file
• Clean up redirect chains and set parameters for dynamic URLs
Security for SEO
Having an HTTPS secure website is very valuable for ensuring the security of transactions on your website. It is also a ranking factor for Google.
• Contact your hosting provider for SSL certification and implementation
• Run a crawl of your website
• Place sitemaps in your robots.txt file independent of any user-agent commands
• Rewrite your .htaccess file to redirect all website traffic to a specific domain using an HTTPS URL.
Clean URLs for SEO
Equally as important, you do not want content that links to broken or redirected pages. Not only does this affect speeds, but it can also impact indexation.
Find out more about SEO Pretoria in our final article in the coming weeks
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As important is links and publishing content remain, search engines are growing far more complex than relying on traditional text and document analysis to rank its index. We should view SEO Pretoria as an organic ecosystem, where each small snippet of code directly or indirectly ties to the performance of your website. Link building to a slow site becomes useless, as is publishing contents that get interrupted by obtrusive interstitials on a mobile device. Following the best practices is pointless, unless you are following all of them. Not all agree on the best practices of SEO, but we agree on some. Here are some of the practices we believe in the most.
This week we will be looking at SEO Content.
1. Content
Content is king, but having content is not enough to help your site rank for the keyword terms it's targeting. 91 Percent of online content generates no content from Google, so what do we know that search engines prize in content creation?
Content Relevance to User Intent on SEO
Understanding user intent is the future of search engine development. Without getting in too many details, Google's algorithms are working tirelessly to better understand the syntax and semantics of user searches. We have already seen some of the benefits this can offer in the form of answer boxes, knowledge panels and more diverse search results for broadtail queries. Content relevance to the user can be argued to be its most important ranking factor because if your content is not relevant to a search, then it will be devalued.
How to Optimize
• Understand the intent of your keywords (informational, shopping, navigational)
• Analyze the SERP of these keywords and see what type of content is ranking
• Research semantic similarities to that keyword and optimize content around those terms.
Deep Content for SEO Pretoria
Deep or long-form content addresses as many user concerns as possible, while providing fresh perspectives over a topic. Search engines prefer long-form content for many informational user searches. Content between 2250 and 2500 words tended to receive the most organic traffic. This seems to be the sweet spot for SEO Pretoria, although creating pages much longer than 2500 words can also be beneficial. Becoming a master over your subject matter isn't just beneficial for SEO, it can also help you become a thought leader in your industry and create additional business opportunity.
How To Optimize
• Research top ranking pages for a target keyword and analyzes their content.
• Add semantically related keywords to flesh out content with additional subtopics
• Answer any and all questions users may have about that topic.
Organize Content on SEO
SEO tags still play an important role in content creation, despite the rise of semantic analysis. Optimizing title tags and header rags can help with:
• Communicating the intent and syntax of your webpage document
• Organizing your document to make it easier for users and search engines to read
• Making pages more scannable
• Helping tour page pass the 5-second rule
How To Optimize
• Insert focus keywords into title tags, URL slug and page titles
• Create header sections (H2, H3 and H4s) using related keywords
Next time we will be looking at User Engagement and the Technical Structure of SEO Pretoria
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UX Design
What is UX? UX design, also known as User Experience design, is about enhancing user experience. This specific type of design focuses on the structure and logic of the design elements that users interact with. UX Designers work to improve products usability, accessibility and users pleasant interaction with the product, with a goal of maximizing customer satisfaction. This is done by performing both pain point and usability analyses post-product launch.
UI Design
UI Design, or User Interface design, pertains to the interactive elements of a design. This type of design requires a good understanding of users' needs because it focuses on anticipating what users will need to do on the device and ensuring that the interface has the elements that make those actions possible. These elements include things like drop-down lists, toggles, breadcrumbs, notifications, progress bars, etc. Basically, UI design is expanding the Graphic Design definition: designs that have any interactivity are UI, even if they incorporate static images.
What is a Graphic Designer?
Now that we have covered the different types of Graphic Design in this article and the past 2 articles, let's tackle the next big question: What is a Graphic Designer?
Graphic Designers are visual communicators and problem solvers. This is a broad definition because considering there are many different types of Graphic Design, a career in this industry can mean many different things, the profession can tie back to any of those specializations.
If you choose to work in Graphic Design, you can work in a few different settings. You can:
1. Work for industry-related companies, like design consultancies or banding agencies.
2. Work with ANY company as an in-house Graphic Designer
3. Work remotely on your own as a Freelancer
Agency Graphic Designer
Many companies hire Graphic Design Agencies to handle their designs for them. If you are working as an Agency Graphic Designer, chances are you'll be receiving a creative brief from a company who works on projects for many different brands. In this industry you are expected to be a design expert, often, Agency Designers are very specialized in areas of Graphic Design.
In-House Graphic Designer
If you are working as an in-house Graphic Designer, you are employed by an established company and your work revolves around that single brand only. In this scenario, you are more of a Graphic Design generalist so that you can meet all the creative needs of your organization.
Freelance Graphic Designer
Working as a freelance Graphic Designer is quite possibly the most difficult because not only are you expected to handle all design requests, but you are also responsible for running every aspect of your business. There are perks like working on your own time and in your own space, but you will need knowledge in more areas than just Graphic Design.
What does a Graphic Designer Do?
A Graphic Designer's primary job is to create visual concepts that communicate solutions and ideas that inspire, inform and captivate consumers. Graphic Designers combine art and technology to produce end results that resonate with their target audience.
While goals can be dependent upon the type of Graphic Design, designers are primarily focused on making whatever organization they are designed for recognizable. They are there to help build a brand identity, boost that company's brand and communicate their messages through visually-pleasing content.
Graphic Design is becoming increasingly important in the marketing and sales of both companies and products. That being said, Graphic Designers tend to work closely with public relations and marketing professionals to better understand how they can communicate the messages that they need to.
Gotfunk falls under the category of Design and Print Agency, we are trusted by hundreds of clients and companies to market their brand through visual design as well as with printed products. Call us today to set up a meeting with one of our skilled designers to discuss all your needs.
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Selecting a Website Design Pretoria theme can be overwhelming, there are thousands of options to choose from. The theme is the overall look, feel and style of your Website Design Pretoria. The theme is the direct representation of your brand and has a direct impact on your user's experience.
To help create a great Website Design Pretoria theme, make sure to take into account the following:
1. K.I.S.S.
K.I.S.S. is an acronym for "keep it simple, stupid" and it is a favourite saying in the office when it comes to modern-day Website Design Pretoria. Years ago, websites were very busy and companies wanted animations, fancy features and many bells and whistles. Now flat design with a minimal approach is popular.
Websites that are too busy take the user away from the desired call-to-action, and they are difficult to navigate on a mobile device.
2. Developer Support Available
This is something not many people take into consideration when selecting a Website Design Pretoria theme. It is very rare to install software to not have to make updates to the platform as there are many changes and advances. This is mainly due to security features. You need to anticipate there will forever be updates to keep your Website Design Pretoria to function correctly.
3. Mobile Readiness
Almost all Website Design Pretoria designs are responsive, but that does not guarantee it will provide a great mobile experience. There are many websites that will pass Google's mobile test, but provide a poor user experience that they are worthless on smaller screens in terms of conversion potential. Work on a design or theme that is adaptive and build with converting the customer in mind.
4. Available plugins, apps and extensions
It is very rare that you will run a Website Design Pretoria theme in its basic form, you will customize the look and feel to match your brand, as well as special features to enhance the user experience and turn more traffic into leads, sales and revenue. When developing your website, you need to know what platform is best for your business. Joomla has shown to be a very great all-rounder CMS system that supports various add-ons.
5. Cross-browser compatibility
Testing your Website Design Pretoria theme on all popular web browsers is a very important step, especially if you are using one that hasn't been updated recently. With so many different devices, browsers and operating systems available, testing helps to ensure that your design will provide the same user experience and functionality for everyone. Old but reliable testing software is Browser Shots, which allows you to run your website through all of them at once. It's a great free tool for a starting point.
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Graphic Design Tools
The design process had evolved tremendously with the continuous digitalization in our world today. But just because these processes have changed over the years, doesn't mean Graphic Designers aren't still using traditional Graphic Design tools, like pencil and paper.
Most Graphic Designers use a hybrid process that includes both traditional and digital technologies. It's common for designers to start the design process by sketching out concepts with traditional Graphic Design tools before hitting the ground running on the computer for finalization. Many designers start directly on computers using Graphic Design software. These tools have enhanced the creative process by allowing designers to explore ideas and achieve designs more quickly rather than completely hand-rendering designs.
Types of Graphic Design
Over time, Graphic Design has become pretty multifaceted. The overall concept is composed of different fields and specializations. Here are some of the most common types of Graphic Design.
Corporate Design - Corporate Design has to do with the visual identity of a company. Any visual elements that make up a brands identity, such as a brand's logo, can be associated with corporate design. This type of Graphic Design is used in brand marketing to communicate brand values through images, shapes and colour.
Marketing and Advertising Design - Probably one of the most widely known types of Graphic Design: marketing and advertising. When most people think of Graphic Design, they are most likely thinking of marketing and advertising design. Social media graphics, magazine ads, billboards, brochures, email marketing templates, content marketing - these are all examples of this widely used type of Graphic Design.
Publication Design - Publication design traditionally refers to the print medium, but again, with the constant digitalization of our generation, it has crossed over to digital publishing. Publication designers need to work closely with editors and publishers to ensure layouts, typography and illustrations are tastefully combined producing the best possible result. Examples of this type of Graphic Design is Newspapers, Newsletters, Magazines and eBooks
Environmental Design - This type of Graphic Design is commonly overlooked. Environmental Graphic Design is the use of visual elements in environments to connect people to those places. The purpose of environmental design is to improve people's experiences in those places. Architecture, Road Signs, Signage, Event Spaces and Wall Murals are all examples of this type of Graphic Design.
Packaging Design - When you buy a new product, it most likely has some form of packaging or visual elements such as a label, sticker or wrapping that is used to prepare the product for distribution or sale. It's crucial that these designers are aware of current trends within the marketplace to ensure successful product marketing.
Motion Design - Motion Graphic Design is a subset of Graphic Design and it is exactly what it sounds like, graphics in motion. This can include animation, video games, apps, GIFs, website features etc. This is still a new area in Graphic design as technological advancements have allowed designers to explore new mediums.
Web Design - While web design isn't necessarily a type of Graphic Design, but Graphic Design is one element of web design. Web designers must consider and combine a variety of the design elements, such as layout, images and typography to create a user-friendly, pleasant front-end experience.
Years ago, chances are anytime anyone was talking about design, they were most likely referring to Graphic Design, but with the digital world we live in today, filled with interactive screens and devices, that idea has changed a bit. It has introduced different kinds of design that can often be confusing for those outside the design industry.
Join us in our next article to learn more about UX/UI Design and what it means to be a designer in general.
