The user experience (UX), or the way a site is designed, is often thought of as being completely different from the techniques used for search engine optimization (SEO). The two teams responsible for each aspect often work in separate silos, making decisions on their own and believing that they do not impact the other. This is a very dangerous approach. UX and SEO can work together instead to improve the site. They should be working as one team, not in separate parts. It is important to note that factors that create a great user experience can also influence SEO. This makes it crucial to work together and share notes to ensure the success of your site.
What elements should you be collaborating on? There must be some UX components that have nothing whatsoever to do with SEO. Not all aspects of user experience or SEO are indeed related, but it’s important to consider the impact on both when making decisions.
These elements are crucial for integrating UX and SEO. Poor decisions will have consequences on both your site’s design and UX. We will explain how each aspect impacts both the user experience and search engine optimization so that you can better understand these two goals.
Why Should SEO care about UX?
Before we get into the specifics, let’s take a closer look at why SEO cares about UX. It is important to note that search engine rankings are increasingly influenced by user behavior. Search engines will see that your site has a high bounce rate if users are frequently leaving your site because of misinformation, poor design, or functionality. Your ranking will be affected as a consequence. A great user experience will encourage your customers to spend more time on your site and be more engaged. This will boost your ranking.
5 Influential Elements
Let’s now consider the most influential factors that both SEO and UX can influence. Your site’s engagement and ranking will skyrocket if your teams collaborate on these elements.
Page Speed
According to Research, nearly half of internet users expect sites to load within two seconds and will abandon a website if they don’t. It’s a UX issue because users get frustrated by a slow website. It is also an SEO issue, as page speed has a direct impact on your ranking. Both teams will benefit from working together to resolve the problems with slow pages. Users can easily access your website.
Mobile Responsiveness
Today, we live in the mobile age. Any site that doesn’t accommodate mobile users will fail. A mobile-responsive site is essential to avoid user frustration and abandonment.
Google’s algorithm now gives a ranking boost to mobile-friendly sites, making it an SEO issue.
Internal Links
Link building is known to improve rankings. Internal linking on your website may seem to have a limited impact on SEO. It becomes a UX element when users click on these links to learn more about a specific topic. By providing a link that has accurate anchor text, you can easily show what the consumer can expect. This will also help to improve your ranking.
Content
It is common for SEO teams also to be responsible for content generation, but not considering the user when creating content is a mistake. When producing and publishing content, it is important to keep the user in mind. If you want the user to stay on your site, the content needs to be clear and appealing. All of your content must be informative and relevant, containing detailed information about specific topics.
Bullet points and header tags are two simple ways to improve the readability of content. This can make it easier for readers to understand large amounts of text by breaking them up. Visual content is also important as the human brain processes visuals faster than written text. This will increase the speed with which users are able to move around the site and explore it. It creates a better user experience as well as more content consumption.
Bounce rate
This was briefly discussed when we talked about page speed. If users don’t have a positive experience on your website, they will leave. This bounce rate will negatively impact your search rankings. It will become harder to find new users as you fall down the rankings. Remember that users are searching for your site with a purpose. This will help you engage them and encourage them to stay. When they first enter your website, you must give them a great experience and immediately show relevance to their query. Their patience is almost non-existent due to the many choices they have.
It is important to think of SEO and the user experience as one unit rather than separate parts. Both components are intertwined in a way that can have a dramatic impact on the performance of your website. A great user experience is worthless if your customers can’t find you online.
On the other hand, new users who find you through search engines may leave your site if it has a bad UX. The user experience is not only for existing customers on your website, but it begins from the moment a visitor clicks your site. The user experience will be affected by everything from page speed and content to images.
Teams in UX and SEO can learn from each other. Once you understand this, your website will be unstoppable, as both approaches work together in order to attract and engage new users.