What is SEO website design? (How to build search-friendly sites)
Want to boost your business website's visibility in Google search results? Time to get to grips with the principles of SEO-friendly web design.
In 2025, small businesses face a challenge: how do you get your website seen in search engine results? It's no new challenge, of course. But in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing, it can be hard to know where to start.
Part of the problem is that businesses have to please two nebulous entities simultaneously. On the one hand, the public searching for goods and services on smartphones, iPads and laptops. And on the other hand, Google, with its hard-to-read workings and constantly shifting user experience.
If this is something you're struggling with, help is at hand. Digital marketing agencies like ours have the skills, tools and resources to give your online visibility a leg-up and drive more traffic to your site.
But how's it done, exactly? Well, there's no silver bullet. A successful digital marketing strategy is a many-pronged affair. But one thing's for sure: no strategy worth its salt can afford to ignore search-friendly web design.
So, without further ado, here are some of the principles behind SEO-friendly web design. If you want to know more,
get in touch! We'd love to help you in your quest.
SEO website design principles
SEO-friendly content
You know your business has value. But the reality is that word of mouth will only get you so far. To see a real spike in engagement, you need a website that puts SEO-friendly content front and centre.
Keywords are key. If you sell surfboards in Sussex, you need your site to come up when people search for them. But like man and bread, a small business cannot live on keywords alone.
You also need to frequently update your website with content that speaks to your target audience. Our hypothetical surfboard company needs blogs about board care, surfing tips, local attractions and more. All these help your voice get heard above the online melee.
Site speed
Brick-and-mortar businesses have one thing working strongly in their favour. Once someone is through your door, you can hit them with everything you've got.
Websites don't work in the same way. Every site visitor is always just a click away from shopping elsewhere. This means you need to build a website that gives no one a reason to minimise the tab.
In this regard, site speed is of the essence. Sluggish loading times will only drive potential customers away. And, even worse, it may affect your Google rankings.
Make sure you work with an agency like ours that treats speed as a priority.
Well-structured site data
Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google. It helps website owners monitor, maintain and troubleshoot their site's visibility in Google search results.
This is a blessing for website owners. But not all digital marketing agencies make their websites easy to read by Google Search Console. (We do!)
Having well-structured site data on one central repository puts you in a better position to know why your website doesn't have prominence in Google search results. As such, it's key to building a search-friendly site.
LLM-friendly sitemaps
Large language models (LLMs) are on the rise, most notably ChatGPT. More and more people are turning to them over Google for answers – and there's no reason to think this will slow down anytime soon.
Small businesses can capitalise on this by creating a separate sitemap called /llms.txt. This is the next version of search, specifically built for LLMs.
This allows LLMs to learn the context of a website as well as its content. In essence, this makes your site more accessible to LLM users.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
We live in the age of the smartphone. No business owner can afford to have a website that's not optimised for smartphone use. As with site speed, it's critical to keeping people on your page and ready to buy.
AMP gets technical, fast. But its main aim is to make mobile sites load super-quickly.
Let's go back to our Sussex surfer. They type in "surfboards in sussex" and Google throws up a bunch of results.
If your website is made with and ranks with AMP, the page has been pre-loaded onto the user's phone even before they click on it.
This doesn't just make your site more user-friendly for potential buyers. It can also give your website a boot up the search rankings.
Internal links
Internal linking is another way to make your business Google-friendly. It involves linking from one part of your site to another.
Let's say you have a blog post about different types of surfboard wax. By linking to individual wax products on your website, you get instant link credit.
Google responds to this by seeing the product page as an important part of your website's hierarchy. Done right, this can do wonders for your online credibility and visibility.
It's also why some eCommerce sites have mega-menus stuffed with product categories. Each page has its own menu, meaning each category gets thousands of links.
Frequently asked questions
What is SEO?
SEO (search engine optimisation) involves improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. It does this through a combination of web design, blog content, technical SEO, on-page SEO, off-page SEO and local SEO.
How does web design affect SEO?
A well-designed site can improve the visibility of your website. It does this by enhancing user experience, improving search engine accessibility and making your website more readable on smartphones.
How is SEO changing in 2025?
SEO is changing all the time. In 2025, it's changing in response to the increased use of AI and LLMs (large language models). The focus is shifting from keywords to a more holistic approach.
Looking for a digital superhero to give your online presence a boost? At My Digital Hero, we offer a tailored digital marketing package to put you in the fast lane. Learn more about our fully managed SEO service or get in touch today for a quick, competitive quote.
