During the early years of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), ranking in search engine was pretty simple- content+relevant keywords results in success. Over the years, Google’s algorithm have changed a lot. Recently, an old reliable component has been added to achieve the new standard of SEO practice- User Experience (UX).
The concept of giving users a pleasant experience is not something that was invented for the purpose of ranking high in search engines. It’s an old marketing philosophy that in order to attract customers and increase customer retention. However, this is something that most online businesses fail to maintain as evidenced by thousands of websites with poor user interface and much worse user interface.
Today, the elements that make up for a pleasant customer experience is incorporated in the best SEO practices in the hopes of providing the best business experience for both parties. Gone are the days when we think of SEO and UX are thought of separately. These two have a many things in common as far as meeting the demands of digital marketing. According to searchenginewatch.com,
“It is important to understand the common SEO and content practices that influence UX:
- Both image tags and headings are critical. Image tags provide details when the images do not load, ensuring the user receives a similar UX irrespective of whether there is a picture or not. Headers help structure page content and improve page readability.
- Creating page copy over 600 words is important to ensure it is in-depth and answers user questions.
- Mobile friendliness is critical, as mobile makes up 52.2 per cent of the market share. In fact, it surpassed desktop in terms of total global Internet usage back in 2016.
- Page speed also plays a vital role. No one wants to wait two seconds for a page to load. The Internet is supposed to be about convenience. How often have you had to wait for a page to load and you have ended up hitting the refresh button several times in frustration?”
In addition, it is essential the contents of your site are relevant, fresh, and optimized. SEO blog writing is an important component is most sites, especially for author websites. This is a three-pronged marketing tool- fresh content, backlinks, and establishing authority and credibility as a serious writer.
Page layout is equally important as the page speed. The page layout defines a website structure. The easier the users are able to navigate through your website, the longer they are likely to stay. As for author website, it must be able to display your brand but not at the expense of design. Negative space is important so as the colors. Just as you are inviting readers to read your book, you website should be able to entice visitors to read what you have to say in your site and make them stay longer by ensuring that their visit remains a pleasant one- that is the quintessential point of the whole user experience.
Also, it is interesting to point out the mobile friendliness is different from mobile-optimized. Mobile responsiveness is only a part of the whole concept of mobile optimized. As such, it is a must that we hold this idea in reverence:
NOT ALL MOBILE-FRIENDLY SITES ARE OPTIMIZED BUT ALL MOBILE-OPTIMIZED SITES ARE MOBILE-FRIENDLY.
And yes, being mobile-responsive is just one of the many requirements that the Google algorithm has set in order for websites to be mobile-optimized.
User Signals is another factor in user experience. Call to action buttons play an important role in the overall experience in visiting your sire. A simple comment or star-review buttons. Simply put, you are inviting your visitors to take a certain action and when they do, it means they are interested in your site and its features. That alone is a victory both in SEO and in user experience.
Overall, the UX and SEO marching orders are simple- to better the website and provide the site visitors with best user experience possible. Do this and you get the only possible result- increase site traffic and higher search ranking.
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