There’s a reason search engine spiders give greater weight to words in certain places. When a user enters your site, they will spend the first three seconds scanning the page. Their eyes will move in certain patterns, picking out what they need. Your page will either convince them to move forward, or they’ll click back.

Your page design should be a basic part of your initial search engine optimisation, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult about SEO-friendly design. The way you design your pages affects how both search engines and users interpret your site on first sight. Placement of key terms, ease of access and links will all effect how your page is perceived. All this happens in seconds.

Seconds count with human users, and they also count for SEO. The positioning that best makes use of those first few seconds also works well for search engine spiders. The way that users and search engines behave is intricately linked. This means that making use of those first few seconds is essential.

Let us consider what you want from a user when they click into your site. Before the overarching goal of getting them to buy or subscribe, you want two simple things. You want them to absorb the message of that page, and you want them to click further into your site. Given that you have only seconds to get them to do either of these things, you need to plan accordingly.

The first goal is your message. If your users absorb your message there’s a greater chance that they will click further into your site. This message can be disseminated via important terms that jump out at the reader. Part of your message will be in your keywords, which inform the user that they’ve found the right page, and part will be in your own terms.

Keywords and important terms need to be placed in prominent positions. Users are known to mostly scan in a zig-zag pattern, diagonally crossing chunks of text and tracking back to the left hand side for the next sweep. This means that the important places are the start and end of paragraphs, and it is known that placing keywords at the start of paragraphs can have a good SEO effect.

Headlines are another important feature of your page. Keywords which jump out within headlines appeal not only to search engines but to users. They are a way to convince the user that they’re on the right page. This should be the prompt for them to scan the rest of the content. Once the content confirms that the information they need is on your site, the message of your headline will be absorbed.

The final important area is placement of links and link text. After the initial scan, the user will be looking for the precise information they need. Links with keyword anchors can lead the user further into your site, where it’s likely that they will spend more time. A left-hand navigation bar will catch the eye as well as further your on-page SEO.

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