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Most clients and designers alike believe that the initial step in Calgary Web Design is to create the Web look and plan the website’s layout , or perhaps planning the site using a flow chart or site map . But the first step of design is not the graphical design, nor the overall functional design of the site .

The first true step to building a Website is to research and define the key search terms for the new site. This is the nucleus of design, since it establishes niche, targeted audience, tone and intensity of presence. This starts with assessing the prospective client’s business goals and determining how to best illustrate these goals and their unique online presence by something as simple as their domain name. Choosing the best domain name is key, as it defines the Web presence and first impression; While keywords are important in a domain name, it is even more essential that you choose a domain name that truly captures and delivers your unique presence.

So, you ask, how does Search Engine Optimization relate to the actual Web design? SEO is usually discussed in terms of bots and directories, meta tags, keyword density and search engine ranking. Yet SEO is an integral and critical part of Web design as it also involves visual impact, creative thinking and responsive development and re-development.  

In general, web designers will initiate SEO development as they build the Web site. Making sure the site is visually accesible and even how fast the page loads can effect Search Engine Ranking these days. That is, the natural result of the Website being indexed by search engines and the consequent flow of visitors to the site. So, in the same way that SEO is part of design, design is also part of SEO.

At the core of this pairing are two values: Attraction and Delivery.

So, SEO and Web design are more readily seen as separate areas by involving different tools, delivery and approaches. However, they ultimately play the same roles – to attract and deliver.

ATTRACTION
Attracting a visitor, whether it is human or an algorithmic robot, takes research and skill. To make attraction as inherent within the site design and SEO results as possible we need to connect with both sides of the “Internet coin” – heads for the publically visible , viewership side and tails stands for the secure, backend server side . The value of any successful website is the continuous ability to remain visible and attract visitors to the site. This success is achieved by the initial focus on proper Web design and development, which stems from the precursive key search term research, and the ongoing responsive development, which is based on search engine ranking, page analytics and response to SEM campaigns. As with any coin, its value is found in the unity of combining the two sides, where each side needs the other to define its own value.

DELIVERY
But like a shiny coin given a pre-defined value,  a website ranking on the first few pages of Google pre-supposes a level of success over those sites back on the 100^th page. The value of a coin is only ever experienced when it is transferred from one to another. Having millions is one thing, but the value of these millions comes down to its exchange for something that the person values more. It is the same for any Web site, it is the nature of a successful Web site to deliver something of value to its audience (and by extension, its creators) otherwise it is deemed worthless.

Both Web design and SEO are responsible to a Web site’s worth, since they both help or hinder the delivery of information and interaction. As a Web designer I have increasingly become aware of how important it is to have a strong attractive design, but the strongest design is one that surrounds and supports the content and helps delivery of information. This has more value than design that is just eye candy, which may help the attraction factor but does not necessarily help the final goal and richest value found in information delivery.

Is SEO actually Web Design? Yes, it is. We can separate the two during the development process, since they require different production methods and analysis, but the essential, integral nature and end goal of both processes joins them together, like the two sides of a coin.

Lucas Arnatt is the lead designer at BlindDrop Design Inc. and has been producing Web sites since 1997. BlindDrop Design serves many local Cochrane and Calgary businesses and organizations. BlindDrop offers a wide variety of services that include Calgary Web design (and SEO), Graphic Design and Photography.

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