Piper is a current student at Southern Oregon University working on their MBA in Arts Administration. This website is a collection of works created by Piper Brooks for BA 436/546.
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Understanding Website Best Practices
A website is one of the first impressions that a business or organization can make on a potential client, and having a professional and effective website is key to a favorable first impression. By considering best practices in user experience, website design, search engine optimization, and blog posts, a website designer can improve their impact on the digital marketplace.
User Experience
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Understanding user needs when navigating a website is essential for creating a positive user experience. Focusing on user retention is important, as users who feel unaccommodated or uncomfortable are more likely to leave.
When users access a website, they are looking for:
Consistency
Structured content
Simple navigation
To help modern website users feel catered to, a website designer could:
Gather data to personalize the website experience
Integrate several channels of communication within the website
Build the website for adaptability in a rapidly changing technological environment (Post, 2022)
When cultivating a positive user experience, it is important to consider how a user would be using the website, and how to most effectively accommodate their needs. Creating personalized experiences and integrating simplicity can add that extra incentive to keep users on your website.
Website Design
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Prioritizing effective website design can assist in achieving the goal of having an optimal user experience. A well-designed website can keep users engaged visually and intellectually and leave them with a positive impression of the business or organization.
To optimize user experience, a designer can:
Implement brand identity consistency throughout their website
Structure content accessibly based on user needs
Create a visually appealing layout with a page hierarchy that is simple to navigate (Post, 2022)
A well-designed website should be:
Simple to conceptualize
Quick to load
Optimized for mobile devices
Accessible
Balanced in creativity and consistency (Rojas, 2025)
By having clear calls to action and simple navigation, a website can avoid making a user think too hard and cause them to get frustrated and click off of the page. Overall, form should follow function, and the website should suit the users’ needs without distractions or obstacles.
Search Engine Optimization
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To enhance a website’s search engine optimization (SEO), it should feature engaging titles and headers, incorporate relevant keywords in the introductions and conclusions, include links to related posts, and have simple URLs (Zviadadze, 2025). To increase local search engine optimization, a website should:
Engage in the local community
Post about local community events
Mention other local websites and social media
Cross-promote
Target specific locality by naming with landmarks and neighborhoods
Encourage detailed reviews
AI pulls review excerpts into featured results
Longer, more detailed reviews are favored by AI
Optimize for voice searches
Longer, more conversational/intent-driven keywords
Focus on reputation
Engage in networking
Include backlinks from trusted organizations
Prioritize customer experience
Maintain a consistent positive online presence (Levitas, 2025)
Focusing efforts on search engine optimization and specifically paying attention to the local audience is important for increasing a website’s reach. As technology progresses, it is important to consider how AI impacts search results and adapt to new technology as it is implemented.
Blog Posts
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Creating blog posts that engage users and optimize keywords for search engines can increase traffic to one’s website.
Before writing a blog post, one should:
research popular keywords,
understand a user’s search intent,
create comprehensive outlines, and
identify the angle of their blog post.
Within the blog post, there should be valuable information, where all sections answer a question, solve a problem, or provide advice, backed up by original insights, real-world, and practical examples.
Readability can be enhanced with proper formatting and structure, such as:
clear headings
bullet points
short paragraphs
compelling visuals like screenshots, charts, and custom graphics (Zviadadze, 2025)
An ideal blog post attracts viewers, engages them, and is visually appealing. By considering SEO in conjunction with relevant and catchy headings and titles, blog posts can be effective at bringing in new audiences.
Summary
An effective website should serve its users’ needs simply and effectively, without providing obstacles or distractions. To optimize user experience, website designers should consider simplicity, consistency, structure, and personalization. To optimize search engine results, a website designer can create blog posts with effective keywords in headlines and titles that engage a local community and adapt for modern search engine technology such as AI.
Great job on this post! Your content is clear and informative! A few design tweaks might help it shine even more. You might consider removing the background image, since it can distract from the main text. Also, Professor Daley mentioned that serif fonts are generally harder to read on screens (I did the same on mine, and that was the feedback I got). Lastly, alternating image alignment: left and right could add some visual rhythm and keep readers more engaged as they scroll. Keep up the great work!
dekelliss
Hi piper, I absolutely love the look of your website. It is super fun and appealing. For your blog post, it was very well formatted and what you said about blog posts and the way it was organized and the information was easy to follow. I would love if you could show me how you did your images next to the information. it looks great. Anyways I think maybe bullet points next to your writing for the best practices but besides that it was well done!
Great job on this post! Your content is clear and informative! A few design tweaks might help it shine even more. You might consider removing the background image, since it can distract from the main text. Also, Professor Daley mentioned that serif fonts are generally harder to read on screens (I did the same on mine, and that was the feedback I got). Lastly, alternating image alignment: left and right could add some visual rhythm and keep readers more engaged as they scroll. Keep up the great work!
Hi piper, I absolutely love the look of your website. It is super fun and appealing. For your blog post, it was very well formatted and what you said about blog posts and the way it was organized and the information was easy to follow. I would love if you could show me how you did your images next to the information. it looks great. Anyways I think maybe bullet points next to your writing for the best practices but besides that it was well done!