You finally get your website looking sharp. Clean layout, great visuals, easy to navigate. But then someone says your SEO is off. Google can’t crawl it properly. Pages don’t rank. Or worse, a developer adds SEO fixes and your design starts to look broken, cluttered or generic. Sound familiar?
This is one of the most common tensions we see. Business owners want a beautiful site and visibility. But often, advice pulls you in two directions. SEO says "add more text". Design says "keep it simple". You’re stuck in the middle.
But you don’t have to choose. You can build a site that performs well in search and makes a strong visual impression. It just takes clear priorities and smart execution.
Why This Matters in Plain Business Terms
This is not a battle between aesthetics and algorithms. It’s a question of how to:
- Get found by the right people
- Keep them on the page once they land
- Convert that attention into action (a sale, a call, a booking)
Poor SEO means fewer visitors. Weak design means fewer conversions. If you only get one right, you still lose. And if your team is stuck arguing over text density or heading tags, you're wasting time and losing customers.
Key Tip: Great design holds attention. Smart SEO brings the right people in. You need both to grow.
Real-World Scenario: The Split-Brain Website
A Wellington-based financial services firm spent months on a beautiful site redesign. Clean typography, strong colours, zero clutter. But site traffic stayed flat.
The problem? Pages had minimal content. Headings were styled beautifully, but weren’t structured correctly. Their services were described in brandy language, but not the terms people actually searched for. Their content was hidden behind tabs and modals that search engines struggled to index.
They didn’t need to ruin the design. They just needed to:
- Reorganise content so key phrases were visible to search engines
- Use headings properly without changing the look
- Add content in places that didn’t crowd the layout (like FAQs and blog)
Within three months, organic traffic rose 45%.
Guide: How to Balance SEO and Design Practically
1. Start with Shared Goals
The best way to avoid conflict is to define what success looks like. Not for SEO. Not for design. For the business.
Ask:
- What pages need to rank, and for what terms?
- What do we want visitors to do when they land?
- How will we measure if it’s working?
When everyone works from the same goals (like enquiries or conversions), you can weigh trade-offs properly. You don’t end up fighting about page length just because "SEO needs more words."
2. Understand What Google Actually Cares About
Good SEO is not about cramming in keywords or writing 2,000 words on every page. Here’s what matters:
- Page speed
- Mobile responsiveness
- Clear structure (H1, H2, etc.)
- Internal linking
- Meaningful content that matches user intent
- Secure and crawlable code
You can meet these needs without ruining your design. In fact, most of them align well with good UX. For example, fast-loading pages and clear headings help humans and search bots.
3. Use Content That’s Easy to Style and Scan
You can include plenty of SEO-friendly content without turning the page into a wall of text.
Try this instead:
- Break content into sections with subheadings
- Use FAQs to add depth without crowding the layout
- Include expandable sections for detailed info
- Add testimonials, stats or microcopy as supporting content
It’s not about writing more. It’s about writing clearly, and presenting it in a way that’s useful.
4. Design with Structure in Mind
Every page should have one H1 (main heading) and a logical hierarchy beneath it (H2s for sections, H3s for subpoints).
You can still make it look great. Just make sure the visual styling matches the semantic meaning. Don’t use an H1 just to make text big. Don’t skip from H1 to H4 because the font looks nicer.
If you design for both structure and style from the start, your developers won’t need to hack it together later.
5. Use Copy That Matches Search Intent
SEO doesn’t mean writing robotic text. It means using the words your customers actually use. This helps with search and clarity.
Instead of:
We create holistic brand-driven digital solutions.
Try:
We design and build custom websites for NZ businesses using Shopify and Webflow.
You can still sound sharp and professional. You just need to be clear. The goal is to help people find you and understand what you do right away.
6. Be Smart About Image and Video Use
Design-heavy sites often use lots of images and video. These can help tell a story visually, but also hurt SEO if used badly.
Best practice:
- Compress files so pages load quickly
- Use descriptive file names (e.g. "webflow-site-nz.jpg" not "IMG_2231.jpg")
- Include alt text for every image
- Avoid embedding critical content inside images
Google can’t read text in an image. So if you have testimonials or headings designed as images, you’re hiding content from search.
7. Use Blogs and Resources Strategically
If your core pages are clean and minimal, you can still support SEO with other parts of your site.
Use blogs to:
- Target long-tail keywords (e.g. "how to manage shipping in Shopify NZ")
- Answer common customer questions
- Share case studies or behind-the-scenes content
This lets your main pages stay focused while building depth elsewhere.
Common Objections (and What to Do Instead)
"SEO wants more text, but it ruins the layout."
Don’t force paragraphs where they don’t belong. Use accordions, tabs, FAQs, or supporting pages to house extra content. Make the visible copy clean, and the rest accessible.
"Our designer says we shouldn’t change the headings or layout."
Collaborate early. Often a small tweak in styling can preserve the look while fixing the structure. Don’t sacrifice visibility for the sake of a pretty font.
"We can’t afford an SEO person and a designer."
You don’t always need both full time. What you need is a clear strategy and people who understand both perspectives. Even small decisions made smartly can have a big impact.
What To Do Now: A Checklist
- Set shared goals for SEO and design. Agree on what success looks like before you start tweaking.
- Audit your site’s structure. Check if headings make sense, pages load fast, and key content is visible to both humans and search engines.
- Review your copy. Are you using terms real customers would search for? Is it clear what you do?
- Find content gaps. Are there questions your site doesn’t answer? Could a blog, case study or FAQ help without crowding core pages?
- Plan your next update with both in mind. Don’t treat SEO and design as a trade-off. Look for ways they can reinforce each other.
A high-performing website needs both visibility and clarity. SEO brings people in. Design keeps them there. You don’t need to choose between them. You just need to build with both in mind from the start.
If you’re unsure where your site is falling short, or want a fresh set of eyes to spot opportunities, feel free to reach out. We’re happy to help you figure out what’s working, what’s holding you back, and what to do next.
