Agreed, the definitions for what makes a web designer/developer aren’t as explicit as they used to be, it’s probably why people tend to use the terms front/back end developer now. Businesses will do this a lot when hiring (especially ones without much of a techy background), they’ll slap on the title of web designer even when the role covers more than what that title initially suggests.
This is what it comes down to in my opinion, is it necessary for someone who mostly fills a ‘designer’ role to have a full understanding of SEO? No, but could it potentially make them a more valuable employee/person to hire? Most certainly, and that could hold a lot of weight if it makes you appear to rise above what is expected of you. It’s just another skill in your arsenal.
Web designers should definitely know the basics of on-site SEO. In a lot of ways, good SEO is synonymous with good design. For example, basic things like “target=_blank” not only result in people staying on your website longer, they also improve your SEO because Google interprets the lower bounce rate as a sign that people get more utility out of your site.
Its not essential for a web designer to know about SEO, but it really helps. A lot of clients today wan’t there website to be as much SEO friendly as possible, so this task, not knowing anything about it, could be difficult. Its not a very hard thing to learn, so i think if you have time, you should learn at least the basics. You could start with this guide.
Hey great post started. Web designing is great and must be known these days. I am about to get my website designed, a website for my newly started company. I was confused about what is the best method to get it placed on. I think you have cleared out all of my confusions. Thanks a lot for this help. For online marketing you must have a brief knowledge of SEO. Start an SEO package marketing to get your site and the business noticed. SEO services provide you an extra advantage to make your site visible in Google search, which is the most required thing at the moment. Competition is growing so fast that to compete with others, you have to be a step ahead of the competitors. For that you must choose an SEO company wisely.
It is quite evident from this that SEO is equally important as designing is.
SEO for me starts with the coding in the site. Especially the keywords which are a HUGE part of SEO. You have to do this during the coding process. The other stuff is just all fluff.
Sometimes web designers fail to understand basic SEO principles, and in those cases they can make irreparable damage in design phase.
For example they will overload a webpage with large images, java script widgets, flash content and other stuff that can be undesirable from SEO point of stand
Re: Web Designers should know SEO?
For me: Yes, if you are web developer you should have some flavour of it to know how a user feel or should feel about your page
