Can the Design of Your Small Business Website Mess With Your Search Rankings?

Alright, let’s get straight to it: does the look and layout of your small business website actually mess with where you land on Google? Or is that just a rumour started by a bored web designer trying to justify their fees?

Short answer: yes, design can absolutely affect your search engine rankings.

Long answer: grab a cuppa, this is going to get interesting.

First off – what do we mean by “design”?

When we say “design,” we’re not just chatting about colours and whether your logo has a duck wearing a top hat (though that’s adorable). We’re talking about the whole user experience. That includes:

• How fast your site loads
• Whether it works on a phone
• If it’s easy to read and navigate
• If people can find what they’re looking for without needing a map, compass, and a minor in archaeology

Basically, it’s about whether your website is a pleasure to use… or a digital nightmare.

Google’s got eyes (sort of)

Now, Google doesn’t see your site like we do. It’s not sitting there judging your font choices (though if you’re still using Comic Sans, it probably should be). But it does have clever bots that crawl your site, and they’re looking for clues about how useful and easy to use it is.

If your design’s putting people off — maybe your text is tiny, your buttons are wonky, or your site takes longer to load than a kettle with a hangover — Google notices.

And when Google’s unimpressed? Down the rankings you go.

Speed matters more than coffee

Let’s talk loading times. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, people start bailing. And not in a polite, “thanks for having me” way. It’s more like they’ve seen a wasp and legged it.

Search engines hate that. If loads of people land on your site and then immediately run off again, it’s a sign that something’s wrong. It’s called a “bounce,” and a high bounce rate is the equivalent of Google raising its eyebrow at you in quiet disappointment.

You can speed things up by:

• Compressing your images (no one needs a full-res photo of a doughnut, Darren)
• Minimising fancy animations
• Using a decent hosting provider (yes, even if it costs more than a tenner a year)

Mobile-friendliness isn’t optional anymore

If your website doesn’t work on a phone in 2025, we’ve got a problem. Everyone’s browsing on their mobiles now – in bed, on the loo, waiting for toast – so your site needs to be ready for that.

Google actually checks if your site is “mobile-friendly” and uses that to decide where you rank. If your buttons are too small to poke with a thumb, or your menu disappears like it’s got stage fright, it’ll affect your SEO.

So yeah. Mobile matters. Big time.

Navigation: the digital sat nav

You know when you go to a shop and nothing’s labelled and you can’t even find the exit? That’s what a badly-designed website feels like.

Your navigation should be clear, simple, and obvious. No clever names for pages like “Our Journey” instead of “About Us.” You’re not Tolkien, you sell garden tools.

If people can’t figure out where to click, they leave. And, once again, Google sees that and sighs deeply.

Bonus tip: add a search bar. Everyone loves a good search bar.

Content layout = how readable is your stuff?

You might have the best blog post in the world about how to fix a leaky tap, but if it’s in one giant chunk of text with no headings, bullet points or breathing room, no one’s going to read it.

Design plays a role in content too. Break things up. Use white space. Add images if it helps. Make your text a comfortable size (14-16pt is a good shout for body text). And don’t go for light grey text on a white background unless you want to ruin someone’s eyesight and your bounce rate.

Google loves content that people actually stick around to read. So help them out.

Fonts and colours: not just for vibes

Your font and colour choices don’t directly affect SEO… but they do affect usability.

If your font looks like it was scratched on a wall by a moody Victorian ghost, people won’t read it. If your background is neon green and your text is red, it might be festive but it’s also borderline unreadable.

Good design builds trust. Bad design makes people worry you’re going to sell their data to a goblin in a trench coat. And guess what people do when they don’t trust a site? Yep — they leave. And we’re back to bounces and sad rankings.

Images: pretty but dangerous

Images are great. They break up text, show off your products, and make your site feel alive. But they’re also sneaky little troublemakers if you’re not careful.

Massive, uncompressed images, or even lots of smaller ones are one of the top reasons small business websites load slower than a sloth on a Sunday. Make sure your images are the right size and format (JPEG for photos, PNG for graphics, WebP if you’re fancy).

Also: use “alt text.” That’s a little description you add to images behind the scenes. It helps with accessibility and SEO. So yes, describing that photo of your team dressed as superheroes does help your rankings. Who knew?

Pop-ups: the necessary evil

Pop-ups are like marmite — you either hate them (they make me leave a site) or tolerate them for the freebies.

They can be useful (newsletter signups, discount offers, etc), but if they pop up immediately, cover the whole screen, or are impossible to close on mobile, Google frowns on them. Especially on phones, where they’re a right pain in the thumb.

Use pop-ups sparingly, make them easy to close, and don’t make people feel like they’re fighting a mini boss just to read your homepage.

Accessibility is SEO’s secret weapon

Designing your website to be accessible (that means usable for people with disabilities) isn’t just kind and decent – it also helps your search engine rankings.

Why? Because accessible sites are better structured, easier to navigate, and more usable for everyone. That means cleaner code, better headings, properly labelled images and buttons, and good colour contrast.

And Google loves clean, well-structured sites. So yeah – accessibility isn’t just about being inclusive, it’s also about getting found.

Design trends that don’t help SEO

Some web design fads are fine for your Instagram grid but bad for your business site. Watch out for:

• Parallax scrolling – where the background moves separately from the foreground. Cool? Maybe. Helpful? Not really.
• All-text-in-images – search engines can’t easily read text inside pictures, so if your homepage is just a giant poster, Google’s got nothing to work with.
• Menus hidden behind fancy animations – no one wants to wait for your menu to slowly spiral into view like it’s auditioning for Strictly.

Keep it clean, keep it clear, and save the fireworks for Bonfire Night.

So… does design affect SEO?

Absolutely. 100%. No doubt about it.

It’s not just about having a pretty website. It’s about having a site that works well, loads quickly, looks good on any device, and helps people find what they’re looking for. That’s what makes Google sit up and take notice.

If your site’s a pain to use, Google assumes your business might be too. But if it’s a dream to navigate, quick as lightning, and a joy to browse? You’ve got a much better shot at climbing those search results.

Final thoughts (a.k.a the moral of the story)

If your small business website looks like it was built in 2004 by your cousin who once took an ICT class, it might be time for a redesign. Not just for vanity — for visibility.

Design and SEO are mates now. You can’t really have one without the other. So next time you’re planning a site update, don’t just think “what looks nice?” Think:

• Will this load fast?
• Can people find stuff easily?
• Is it readable, mobile-friendly, and accessible?
• Will visitors enjoy using it?

Because when you design for real people, the search engines follow.

And that, dear reader, is how good design helps your small business show up in the big wide world of Google.

Now go check your website. I’ll wait.