Does website design affect SEO?

I am learning SEO and need some suggestions from SEO experts who have been working in SEO for many years, how can I improve my website design?

Most people underestimate how much website design impacts SEO. I remember working on a site that had amazing content but struggled with poor performance due to its design slow loading speed, difficult navigation, and no mobile optimization. At Red Star Technology we focused on redesigning the site to be faster, cleaner, and mobile-responsive. The difference was huge: better rankings, lower bounce rates, and longer visitor sessions. It proved to me that SEO isn’t just about keywords user experience matters. When people enjoy using your site, search engines take notice. Focus on your visitors, and the rankings will follow!

Yes, website design significantly impacts SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Good design enhances both user experience (UX) and search engine crawlability, while poor design can hurt your rankings. Here’s how different design elements affect SEO:

1. Page Speed & Core Web Vitals
SEO Impact: Google uses Core Web Vitals as ranking factors:

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Slow loading → Lower rankings

FID (First Input Delay): Delayed interactivity → Poor UX

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Layout instability → Ranking drops

Bad Design Practices:

Unoptimized images/videos

Excessive JavaScript/CSS

Slow server response

Optimization Tips:

Use CDN acceleration

Compress images (WebP format)

Implement lazy loading

2. Mobile-Friendliness (Mobile-First Indexing)
Google prioritizes mobile-optimized sites

Poor mobile experience → Lower desktop rankings too

Bad Design Issues:

Tiny text, unclickable buttons

Horizontal scrolling, broken layouts

Slow mobile load times

Optimization Tips:

Use responsive design

Test with Google Mobile-Friendly Test

3. Site Structure & Internal Linking
Clean navigation helps Googlebot crawl efficiently:

Logical URL structure (e.g., /blog/seo-tips vs. /page?id=123)

Smart internal linking (linking related content)

Bad Design Issues:

Messy site architecture

Broken links (404 errors)

Missing breadcrumbs

Optimization Tips:

Submit an XML sitemap

Keep a flat structure (≤3 levels deep)

4. Readability & UX (User Experience)
Dwell time & bounce rate affect rankings:

Clear typography (H1/H2 headings, paragraphs)

Proper font size, spacing, contrast

Bad Design Issues:

Low text-background contrast

Intrusive pop-ups (may trigger Google penalties)

Optimization Tips:

Follow WCAG accessibility guidelines

Avoid disruptive pop-ups

5. Technical SEO Compliance
Design must support SEO best practices:

Schema markup (for rich snippets)

HTTPS security (ranking factor)

Bad Design Issues:

Dynamic URLs (with ?, #)

Duplicate content (e.g., pagination issues)
Optimization Tips:

Use canonical tags

Ensure robots.txt allows crawling

6. Image & Video Optimization
Visual content impacts rankings:

ALT text helps Google understand images

Videos need transcripts & captions

Bad Design Issues:

Uncompressed large images

Auto-playing videos (hurts UX)

Optimization Tips:

Always include <img alt="description">

Use lazy loading for off-screen media