Search Engine Optimisation is a lot of things, not just limited to keywords. Anybody who works with web and online material needs to have some knowledge of SEO, at least the basics – whether you are a content writer, a web developer, or a graphic designer. Especially if you’re producing any kind of content for online use or work in a digital marketing agency.
So, if you’re a graphic designer, having some basic knowledge of SEO can make your works stand out more. This is because visuals are an important element on a web page and if they’re optimized, they can appear well in the SERPs. After all, it’s all about being present on the results page so if you make great visuals but they appear nowhere, then it’s of little to no use. Learn more in this graphic design course online.
Here are some SEO rules for graphic designers to keep in mind:
Create mobile-friendly visuals
Mobile-friendly visuals are way more important than desktop-friendly ones as Google considers mobile-friendly elements one of the top-ranking factors. In 2016, mobile-friendly elements in a web page surpassed desktop ones and today, over 70% of searches are done from mobiles. That makes it crucial to create mobile-friendly graphics and other visual elements.
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Eye-catching graphics are quite successful in getting the attention of people when they’re scrolling on their mobiles. They create long-lasting and trustworthy impressions on users and user-experience too. Creating visuals that have a lot of impacts can help SEO. So how do you create mobile-friendly visuals?
- Emoticons
- Abstract patterns
- Contrasting colors
- Real photographs
- Hand-drawn illustrations
- Low brightness designs
- Appropriate size
- Mobile-responsive visuals
- Readable typography
Design for humans
Your aim in creating graphic designs must be to create designs that are easy to interpret for the readers. Your focus should be on providing a solution to a problem with the use of typography or communicating visuals. Keep in mind the issue of a user and how your design can provide them with a solution.
Your design should communicate the aspects of needs, trends, and the types of products or services in a perfect balance of colors, content, and visuals.
Structure well
As web content contains a lot of text, not many will read word to word as it can be overwhelming. Images can help them process the information better. The designs presented in the content can prompt them to click a call to action button or hit the back button. Presentation matters a lot, so the content or the page structure needs to be scannable and readable.
Scannability is one of the factors in web usability. This is because most of the time, users will just scan the web and if something catches their eye, then only they will proceed to engage with the content.
According to different studies, users’ eye-tracking pattern follows in three ways to scan a webpage:
- Z – Pattern
- Zig-Zag Pattern
- F Pattern
Understanding visual hierarchy can help you design a scannable structure that impacts SEO. The visual hierarchy means arranging content according to size, importance, and relevance. For example – Title, heading, subheading, copy, image body, etc. Presentation of these elements can influence the user to engage more with the content, so design them wisely.
Image source – Alvalyn Lundgren
Favicon
Do you see an icon in the address bar of a browser? Or next to a site name? It’s called a Favicon, an icon associated with a brand and its website.
Related Post: Benefits of Graphics Designing
It can help users differentiate your website from other tabs opened in a browser. It’s easy to remember and recognize a site. Designing a unique Favicon can catch the attention of a user and help them remember your site.
These steps can be useful while designing a Favicon –
- Design it simple and easily recognisable. For example – Facebook, Ubersuggest.
- You can create a brand icon or use a letter that’s decorated
- Design it on 512px X 512px transparent canvas in Photoshop
- Design it small, but sharp and clear to the human eye
Principles of design in a psychological perspective
Since you are designing for humans, understanding the thinking pattern can help you create better and effective designs. Start by understanding what your target audience likes. This is where the psychology of design comes in. As a graphic designer, you must connect with human psychology and combine it with design to build an effective website or content. A graphic design course can give an in-depth understanding of the psychology of design.
Choosing the right design format
Creating multiple samples of design can be useful in deciding which one to choose. Before you proceed with finalizing a design, ask:
- Which of these visuals seem more visually appealing?
- How should I use the text in this design?
- Should it be an image or video representation?
Image source – Digital Synopsis
Visuals are more powerful than text, which is why choosing the right one can make the right impact. Let’s take a look at the following facts –
- 90% of total information absorbed by the brain is visual
- Humans process visuals sixty thousand times faster than textual information
- Humans perceive the sense of visual information in just 1/10th of a second. Your job is to catch the user’s eye this fast with your design.
- The brain scans images for just 13 milliseconds.
These facts support the fact your graphic designs play an important role in SEO. Use photographs, use alt text for all the images with relevant keywords related to the content or a web page, use infographics rather than long-form content wherever necessary, implement animated GIFs and visual cues like lines & arrows.
Most importantly, make sure that your designs communicate the right message to the right people.
Conclusion
Given the facts revolving around how visuals impact users’ behavior and interaction on the website, it’s definitely important for a graphic designer to have simple and basic knowledge of SEO that they can implement in whatever designs they create.
Since visuals are an important element on any website, they need to be readable, scannable, and optimized for Search Engine Optimisation. If you want to learn more about graphic design, then check out this Graphic Designing Course in Bangalore.
Learn Digital Academy Is one of the best graphic designing training institutes. They also offer courses in digital marketing, data science, and more. Contact to know more.
