When I was just starting out as a designer, I devoted very little time to analytics, just to check the boxes, so to speak. I only asked the client or marketer about the target audience, and design came before SEO.
80% of websites without marketers and SEO specialists are built like this:- come up with a structure
- create a design
- then "add SEO"
This is a fundamental mistake. Correct process: SEO → Structure → Prototype → Design