SEO Optimisation: 5 website design & development steps to rank higher

When it comes to improving your website’s search engine rankings in 2025, keywords alone aren’t enough. Google now prioritises websites that are fast, mobile-friendly, and built with strong technical SEO foundations. With the rise of AI-driven search results, your website needs to deliver both excellent user experience and optimised performance to stay visible.

In this guide, we’ll share five proven website design and development strategies that not only improve user experience but also boost your rankings in Google’s AI results.

Step 1: Improve site speed and performance to boost Google rankings

A slow website doesn’t just frustrate visitors — it directly impacts your Google rankings. Research shows that 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load, and Google uses site speed as a core ranking factor.

Here’s how to enhance your site speed:

• Optimise images: Use modern formats like WebP instead of JPEG or PNG to reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality.
• Choose a reliable hosting provider: High-performance hosting ensures quick loading times and reliable uptime.
• Enable browser caching & compression: Caching speeds up returning visits, while compression reduces file sizes for faster loading.
• Minimise unused code: Clean up unnecessary scripts and plugins that slow down your site.

Step 2: Implement a mobile-first design for better rankings

With mobile browsing dominating internet traffic, Google uses mobile-first indexing, ranking sites primarily on their mobile version. To stay competitive:

• Use a fully responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes.
• Ensure buttons are easily clickable and fonts are large enough to read without zooming.
• Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to fix mobile speed issues.

Step 3: Optimise URL structure & navigation 

Make it easy for both users and search engines to find important content:

• Keep URLs short, descriptive, and keyword-rich.
• Add breadcrumb navigation to clarify your site’s structure.
• Minimise unnecessary redirects that can slow performance.

Step 4: Use SEO-friendly HTML & headings

Search engines rely on HTML structure to understand your site:

• Use H1 for the main title and H2/H3 for logical subheadings.
• Add alt text to all images for accessibility and SEO.
• Implement Schema markup for rich snippets like reviews, FAQs, or events.

Step 5: Strengthen internal linking & site architecture 

Internal links guide visitors and Google’s crawlers to your most important content:

• Link naturally to key pages from relevant content.
• Use descriptive anchor text (e.g., “Read our SEO guide” instead of “Click here”).
• Keep important content within three clicks from the homepage.