Why SEO-centric Web Design Is Essential in 2025

Intro

The battle between SEO professionals and Web Designers rages on into 2025 with each side stubbornly outspoken about the importance of their craft in the marketing mix for businesses across the board. Whilst both are indeed important, striking the right balance ultimately outweighs the idealistic viewpoints of either side of this tug of war.

In this post we outline some key areas where SEO and Web Design professionals should be working together to strike the right balance between SEO and UI design, in what we consider to be an “SEO-centric” approach to web design that should be implemented by any business expecting to benefit from organic traffic.

The Importance of Balance: SEO and Web Design Working in Tandem

As mentioned, SEO professionals and web designers often find themselves at odds. One prioritises ranking high in search engines, while the other focuses on creating visually appealing, user-friendly websites. These goals, however, are not mutually exclusive. The most successful websites integrate both disciplines seamlessly, ensuring that aesthetics and functionality do not undermine a site's search engine visibility or usability.

The last thing any website owner wants is a beautifully designed website that users love, but it’s buried on the fifth page of search engine results. Conversely, think of a website stuffed with keywords and awkward content placements, ranking high but driving users away with its clunky layout. Both scenarios highlight the necessity of blending SEO and web design to create a site that attracts visitors and keeps them engaged.

Common Clashes and How to Solve Them

Font Sizes and Heading Design

One of the most overlooked aspects of balancing SEO and design lies in heading design. Web designers often favour large, bold fonts for headings, aiming to make a visual impact. However, this can clash with SEO considerations, particularly for headings aiming to target longer-tail keywords or just providing semantic variation.

For example, a heading optimised for SEO might include a phrase like, “Best SEO rank tracking software for Small Businesses in 2025.” A large font size could make this heading dominate the page or just take up too much real estate.

To strike a balance, designers and SEO professionals should collaborate early in the design process. Designers can choose scalable font sizes that accommodate variable heading lengths, ensuring the aesthetic remains intact while catering to SEO needs. SEO professionals, on the other hand, can streamline their keyword strategy to avoid unnecessarily lengthy headings.

Aesthetics vs. Content Placement

SEO often requires the inclusion of specific content elements in specific places to ensure the optimal hierarchy for ranking in search engines. However, the placement of these elements can sometimes conflict with the designer's vision for a unique .

An example of this might be a designer wanting to use elements that look like headings in a hero slider. The developer, not considering SEO winds up using a h4 element and winds up placing the h1 element below the slider. This is not really optimal for SEO as ideally the h1 element would be the first heading element on the page.

To address this, collaboration is key. If the SEO specialist is involved in the process, the developer can be instructed to use non-heading elements such as paragraph or span elements and style them to look like headings, achieving both objectives.

Toggles and Accordions: A Smart Solution for SEO Content

One of the most effective solutions to balance SEO content and design is using toggles and accordions. These tools allow you to house additional content without overwhelming the page visually by essentially hiding some of the content from view.

For example, FAQ sections can use collapsible accordions to address SEO goals while maintaining a clean and minimal design.

Source: https://www.webdesignsquad.com.au/

When implementing toggles and accordions, it’s crucial to ensure the hidden content is still accessible to search engine crawlers. This means avoiding JavaScript that prevents search engines from indexing the content.

Additionally, the content within these elements should remain valuable and relevant, avoiding the temptation to stuff it with keywords solely for SEO purposes. The result? A page that ranks well and maintains an excellent user experience.

User Experience: The Key to SEO Success

Google's algorithms increasingly prioritise user experience as a ranking factor. Metrics like bounce rates, dwell time, and core web vitals (including page load speed and interactivity) directly impact rankings. This makes it essential for SEO professionals and designers to align their efforts to create fast, responsive, and intuitive websites.

For example, overly complex animations or heavy imagery can slow down a site, negatively impacting its performance in search results. By working together, designers can optimise images and animations without sacrificing aesthetics, and SEO experts can ensure the site’s technical performance remains strong.

Content Presentation: Avoiding the “Stuffed” Look

Another common pitfall is the temptation to overload pages with SEO-driven content. This often results in a cluttered appearance that detracts from the user experience. Instead, businesses should focus on presenting content in a way that feels natural and engaging.

One effective approach is to break up large blocks of text with visuals, bullet points, or interactive elements. For example, instead of a wall of text describing the benefits of a product, use a combination of icons, short paragraphs, and videos. This not only improves readability but also keeps users engaged longer, which signals to search engines that your content is valuable.

Internal Linking and Styling Considerations

Internal linking is an extremely important but often neglected part of good SEO, guiding users and search engines through your site’s hierarchy. However, the way internal links are styled can significantly impact both usability and aesthetics. Designers often want links to be subtle to avoid visual clutter if there are a lot of internal links on a page.

A middle ground can be achieved by using understated link styles with a hover state colour change. For instance, internal anchors can be designed without bold colours, instead relying on subtle interactions like underlines or colour shifts upon hovering. This ensures that links remain functional and accessible without detracting from the overall design.

Optimising the Footer for Internal Links

The footer is a favoured spot for SEO professionals to house internal links. However, a poorly designed footer can appear cluttered and look like a bit of an afterthought. To prevent this, designers can use structured layouts such as toggles or mega menus in the footer. These tools help organise a large number of links without making the footer look chaotic.

For example, a mega menu footer can group links into categories inside tabs, allowing SEO professionals to house all the links they want crawled globally without it looking stuffed. There is also function in this approach, as users have those footer links presented in a more easily digestible way. Similarly, collapsible toggles can house additional links, keeping the footer compact and user-friendly. By combining thoughtful design with SEO strategy, businesses can maximise the utility of their footer without sacrificing aesthetics.

Source: https://www.thefrenchbeautyacademy.edu.au/

Collaboration: The Cornerstone of SEO-centric Design

For SEO-centric web design to succeed, collaboration between teams is essential. Businesses should prioritise communication between SEO professionals, web designers and developers from the outset of a project. This ensures that everyone is aligned on goals and reduces the likelihood of conflicts later in the process.

A simple but effective way to facilitate collaboration is to hold joint strategy sessions. During these sessions, designers and SEO experts can discuss the site's objectives, identify potential pain points, and agree on a shared vision. By fostering an environment of teamwork, businesses can achieve a website that excels in both design and search performance.

The Future of SEO-centric Web Design

As we look ahead to the rest of 2025, it’s clear that the relationship between SEO and web design will continue to evolve. With advancements in AI and machine learning, the expectations for websites are higher than ever. Users demand faster, more personalised experiences, and search engines are becoming better at evaluating the quality of those experiences.

To stay ahead, businesses must embrace a holistic approach to web design. This means prioritising both form and function, ensuring that SEO principles are woven into the fabric of the design process. By doing so, businesses can create websites that not only rank well but also deliver exceptional value to users.

Final Thoughts

The days of treating SEO and web design as separate disciplines are long gone. In 2025, success lies in striking the right balance between these two essential elements. By fostering collaboration, addressing common conflicts, and adopting smart solutions like toggles and accordions, businesses can create websites that excel in search performance and user experience.

Those of us who consider ourselves to be progressive web designers know the importance of SEO and cannot afford to hold on too tightly to our design ideals.

Ultimately, a website that ranks well but alienates users is no better than a stunning design buried deep in search results. By blending the best of both worlds, businesses can achieve the holy grail of digital success: a site that is both discoverable and delightful.