I’m knee-deep in a project that’s heavily focused on SEO, search engine optimization. For anyone unfamiliar, SEO is a strategy for building websites that rank well in search engines so users can find them. For example, if you train dogs in upstate NY, your website should show up when someone searches for “Upstate NY Dog Training” or “Dog Trainers in Upstate NY.”

There are many technical elements to SEO, but at the core of it all, content is king. However, during my research for this project, which involves identifying competitors for our target keywords, I’ve been shocked by how many businesses are using rather shady tactics to rank, with no attention paid to design or user experience.

It’s nuts. If you invest time and money into SEO but skimp on the design, you’re likely throwing that investment away.

I’ve clicked through dozens of high-ranking websites and came away with a common impression; they don’t make me trust or even like the company. Pages are stuffed with unformatted walls of text, lacking appropriate imagery, offer no proof of results or calls to action. Some even require users to fill out long forms just to make contact. These are all bad design decisions, and they create friction instead of connection.

As a web designer/developer, this is great news for my current client, we can rise above the noise with thoughtful, user-centered design paired with a solid SEO strategy. But if you’re a future client reading this, I can’t stress enough, SEO alone is not a strategy.

Design is not only just how something looks — design is how it works too. Your SEO and your design strategy need to be planned together if you want to maximize return on investment.