SEO-First Web Design
Websites built to rank and convert✦
SEO-first means Core Web Vitals, schema markup, location-page templates, and search-friendly architecture are designed in from the first wireframe. Not retrofitted after launch. I build these on WordPress for franchise brands and multi-location businesses.
30 minutes. No slide deck.
LinzEO builds SEO-first sites on WordPress. Schema architecture, location-page templates, Core Web Vitals budgets, and AEO foundations baked in from wireframe to launch.
Built to rank from day one · Core Web Vitals in the green · Schema in every block · One template, every location · WordPress, 22 years deep
01 · What's hard about this
Most websites are built backwards.
Design first, SEO second. That's how most agencies work. The result looks polished in a Figma mockup and disappears in search results. Here's what I see on every audit.
Beautiful but invisible
The agency built for visual impact. No schema, no internal linking model, no performance budget. Google can't figure out what the site is.
Location pages are a mess
30 locations, each page hand-built, each slightly different, none with consistent NAP or local schema.
Performance is tanked
4MB hero videos, 12 carousel sliders, Core Web Vitals in the 30s. The site looks great and loads like it's 2015.
No content model
Service pages, location pages, and blog posts all use the same template. Google can't tell what's a service and what's a city.
Schema is missing entirely
No Service, Person, Organization, FAQPage, or BreadcrumbList. AI search has nothing structured to cite.
Redesign killed rankings
The last redesign changed every URL, dropped redirects, and deleted the blog. Organic traffic never recovered.
The Build
Your website is your digital home.
And like a house, it gets built in a specific order, where every layer leans on the one below it. Skip the foundation work and you'll feel it later (usually right when you try to add something and nothing fits). So here's how the pieces actually stack.
Your content management system (the WordPress, the platform, whatever you build on) is the slab everything else sits on. You stop noticing it the day the house goes up, but every wall and pipe is trusting it to hold. Choose a shaky one and you’ll find out the hard way the first time you try to grow.
Framing decides where the rooms go and how you move through them. The finishes decide how it feels once you’re inside, right down to whether someone actually designed it for a human or just dropped in a template. That’s web design doing both jobs, and it’s the difference between a house people walk through and one they want to stay in.
Wiring and plumbing, the systems behind the walls. Nobody compliments your pipes, but the second they fail, it’s all anybody notices. Online ordering, booking forms, location finders, the integrations that tie it together: that’s the functionality that has to work every time, or the prettiest site in town is just an empty box.
This is how you get found from the street. Search is the drive-by, and your curb appeal decides whether someone slows down or keeps going. Get it right and the right people pull into the driveway already curious about what’s inside.
AEO (answer engine optimization) is what gets said about you when you’re not in the room. A lot of that talking is now done by AI, so when someone asks it for the best option in your category, you want to be the name it brings up. Same reputation game, new kind of neighbor doing the recommending.
A house left alone starts to slide. Maintenance is the standing routine that keeps everything current and catches the small leak before it’s the flood you’re mopping up at midnight. Least glamorous line on the list, and the one protecting everything above it.
02 · The playbook
Architecture before aesthetics. Performance before polish.
Every site I build starts with the search architecture. URL structure, content model, schema plan, and performance budget are locked before I open a design tool.
Architecture first
URL structure, internal linking model, and content hierarchy mapped before any visual work starts.
Performance budget, day one
Target: LCP under 2.5s, INP under 200ms, CLS under 0.1, Lighthouse Performance over 90 on mobile.
Schema built into blocks
Editors don't have to think about schema. It outputs automatically from the content model.
Location templates that scale
One template, populated per location. Automatic sitemap inclusion, consistent NAP and local schema.
Image pipeline
WebP and AVIF, lazy-loaded below the fold, fetchpriority high on the LCP image, alt text required at upload.
AEO foundation at launch
llms.txt, FAQPage on every Q&A section, Person schema on every author byline.
Every project includes:
Architecture document before any design work ✦ Performance budget enforced through QA ✦ Schema validation report at launch ✦ 90-day post-launch optimization window ✦ Monthly walkthrough with the human who built the site
03 · Receipts, not stories
Real builds. Real numbers.
Four recent builds, all live, all hands-on work from me. See every case study →
Flagship franchise launchCollege Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving
A national franchise brand rebuilt on WordPress. Schema in version-controlled code, 11 territory pages, answering in about 50 milliseconds.
50ms server response, was 1.3s
SEO-first web designTomKat Studio
A party blog turned real estate brand. The rebuild honored a decade of authority instead of torching it. Every link still resolves.
DR 58 preserved · 29K+ backlinks
Web designNash Communications
Pure static HTML for an Oklahoma fiber crew. No page builder, no plugin stack, nothing to break at 2 AM during storm response.
0 plugins to update or exploit
SEO + web designLevel Up Construction
Rebuilt on a performance-first stack, every service page restructured around real homeowner search intent.
3,400% domain authority growthRZR Construction. Two full builds. Retained quarterly.
Lindsey did 2 total websites for us, she did an amazing job and the final product looks very professional. We ended up retaining her for quarterly updates. Thank you!
04 · Common questions
Asked on almost every call.
Why WordPress?+
The most mature SEO plugin ecosystem and the easiest editor handoff. I build on the fastest block theme I’ve benchmarked: mobile-first, performance-aware out of the box, and built for the block editor.
Can you work with our existing WordPress site?+
Yes. SSH access plus an admin account is enough to start. Most projects are rebuilds on existing domains, not new sites.
What if we're not on WordPress?+
Workable. I’ve shipped on Webflow, Framer, and Shopify. Custom or headless setups need a discovery call first.
How long does a project take?+
Discovery through launch: 10 to 15 weeks, typical. Plus a 90-day post-launch optimization window included in every project.
What does it cost?+
Most franchise web builds land in the $25k to $40k range, depending on location count, content scope, and migration complexity.
05 · The free mini-audit
Let's see what your next website should actually look like.
30 minutes on your current site. A ranked list of what a rebuild would fix, whether or not you hire me.
Technical health scorecard
Speed, crawlability, and indexation issues ranked by severity.
Core Web Vitals audit
LCP, CLS, and INP on every key template.
Architecture review
URL structure, content model, and internal linking gaps.
90-day rebuild roadmap
What to fix now vs. what to fix in a full rebuild.