When you’re building a website in 2024, especially a mobile-first one, the success of your site hinges on the planning phase. One of the most important parts of this phase is the design brief. This document sets the tone for everything – from user experience to website SEO. But the secret is writing an SEO design brief that gets the website to look good and rank well.
Here’s how to write a design brief for mobile-first websites with SEO top of mind.
Why Mobile-First Matters for SEO
Before we get into the design brief, let’s get on the same page about why mobile-first is important. Google has moved to mobile-first indexing, it uses the mobile version of your website for ranking and indexing. If your site isn’t mobile friendly you’ll miss out on SEO benefits and potentially lower rankings.
In short, a mobile-first website design means your site works on smaller screens – because that’s where most of your traffic will come from. By including SEO in the design process from the start you’re aligning with Google’s ranking priorities.
What is an SEO Design Brief?
A design brief is a blueprint for the website you want to build. When you make it SEO focused you’re including the SEO elements right into the plan. This means everything from technical SEO (site speed and mobile usability) to content related elements (keyword placement and meta tags) is included before any coding or designing begins.
By including SEO in the design from the start you’ll save time, avoid costly revisions and get the site to perform well visually and technically.
SEO Design Brief for Mobile-First Websites
Now we’ve established the design brief for mobile-first sites, let’s break down the key elements you need to include to get the website to hit both design and SEO goals.
1. Project Objectives
This is where you outline what you want the website to achieve. Brand visibility? More traffic? Better lead generation? Be as specific as possible. Your designer and SEO specialist will have a clearer understanding of what you want and can plan accordingly.
Also set measurable goals like target page load time (Google recommends under 3 seconds on mobile) and minimum traffic expectations. This will make it easier to measure success after launch.
2. Target Audience
Your target audience should be at the heart of your design brief. Who will be visiting your mobile-first website and what are their needs? Remember, mobile users are task oriented. They want fast answers and they want them now.
Research keywords that match their intent and make sure your SEO goals reflect that. If your audience is searching for “local services” make sure your SEO strategy includes local SEO elements like optimising for “near me” searches and schema markup for local business details.
3. Mobile Specific User Experience
A mobile-first website is all about convenience. Navigation must be simple, design must be responsive and buttons must be tapable on smaller screens. But there’s an SEO angle here too—Google likes sites that offer a smooth mobile experience.
To achieve this make sure the design brief includes:
- Responsive design: The website must adapt to various screen sizes and be consistent across devices.
- Touch friendly navigation: Buttons and menus must be big enough for mobile users to tap without frustration.
- Image optimization: High res images that don’t slow down page load times, a key SEO factor.
Make these usability points a requirement in the design brief so the website is mobile-first in every way.
4. Site Architecture and Navigation
Site structure is important for both SEO and user experience. Your design brief should outline the site architecture which includes a well organised hierarchy that helps both search engines and users to navigate.
Some points to consider:
- Flat structure: Keep your pages as close to the homepage as possible, ideally within 3 clicks. This is good for UX and SEO.
- Internal linking: Outline a plan for internal links between pages so content is easy to find, increases page views and keeps users on your site longer.
- Breadcrumbs: Make sure the site navigation includes breadcrumbs so users can backtrack easily and SEO by improving internal linking.
5. Content Strategy
Content is still king even for mobile-first websites. Your SEO focused design brief should include a plan for content that ranks and resonates with your audience.
- Keyword strategy: Include SEO friendly keywords relevant to your industry and audience. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help you find phrases with high search volume.
- Content structure: Make sure the brief outlines how content should be formatted. This includes H1s, H2s and H3s to break up content so mobile users can read it easily and improve SEO.
- Meta tags and descriptions: Specify that meta titles, descriptions and alt tags must be written for every page. These are important for mobile SEO and desktop search rankings.
Also remind your designer that text must be readable on small screens. Avoid long paragraphs and use bullet points or lists where possible.
6. Technical SEO Considerations
Even the most beautiful website will fail if it’s slow. Make sure your design brief includes key technical SEO requirements:
- Page speed: Mobile users are impatient. Google recommends a load time of under 3 seconds so make sure speed optimization is a requirement.
- Mobile-first indexing: Google prioritises mobile-first websites. Make sure the website design includes a responsive layout and mobile friendly navigation from the start.
- Image optimization: Use WebP or compressed images to improve load times without sacrificing quality. Here are the top plugins for image optimization.
Bonus: Teamwork
One often overlooked part of writing a design brief is making sure your web designers and SEO team work together. A common mistake is to keep these teams in silos which results in a website that looks great but doesn’t rank. Collaboration ensures the site meets both visual and technical requirements and satisfies users and search engines.
Conclusion
Writing an SEO focused design brief for a mobile-first website may seem scary at first but by including the right points you can set your project up for success. The goal is to balance user and search engine needs so your website is optimised for performance and rankings. With a clear design brief you’ll avoid miscommunications, streamline the development process and have a website that’s not just mobile friendly but also SEO friendly.
