User experience (UX) deals with how users engage with your website, whereas search engine optimisation (SEO) concentrates on helping your website rank highly in search results. UX is all about users, while Google’s algorithm is all that matters for SEO… or is it?
It has become more and more evident in recent years that SEO is a ranking system that is continually changing. User experience is one of many factors to be considered in what used to be a practice that entailed creating a specialised keyword page or using an endless number of links. A website’s user experience (UX) includes many factors in addition to how it looks, such as how simple it is to navigate, whether it works on different platforms, inclusivity, content quality, and a long list of other factors.
SEO and UX are often at odds when building a website. The two cannot possibly cooperate to achieve the same objectives… or can they? SEO and UX are sometimes seen as two rival disciplines by marketers, designers, and business owners, but they share more in common than you might expect.
Here is how UX design and SEO relate to one another and how to effectively incorporate them to help improve your website ranking.
What UX Signals Does Google Need for Website Ranking?
Google considers more than 200 ranking indicators when determining which websites to display at the top search results. Crawlability, indexability, authority, and expertise are a few factors covered, but a significant chunk is devoted to the overall user experience (UX).
The following three categories can be used to classify these UX ranking factors broadly:
RankBrain
One of the most significant ranking factors in Google’s algorithm is RankBrain.
The website’s bounce rate, organic clickthrough rate, pages per session, and dwell time are among the website behaviour indicators that this algorithm emphasises. RankBrain uses these signals to assess a user’s satisfaction level with the search results and their relevance to their enquiry.
In a nutshell, if a user can easily navigate from one page to another, clicks on your links, spends a significant amount of time on your pages, and returns to your site repeatedly, it indicates that your site is a user-friendly resource.
On the other hand, if a user visits your website, leaves without taking any further action, immediately returns to the search results after landing on a page, and never returns, it tells Google that your website is either not optimised or your content is irrelevant to your users.
Mobilegeddon
Have you ever used your smartphone to do a Google search, clicked on a result, and immediately moved on because the website was so challenging to use on a small screen?
Well, you’re not alone.
We spend more than 70% of our time searching online with our smartphones, and roughly 3 out of 4 internet users claim that a mobile-friendly website would increase their likelihood of returning to it.
Google is aware of how crucial smartphone compatibility is to users. For this reason, a few years ago, it launched an update to its indexing system called “mobile-first,” which primarily uses a website’s mobile version for indexing and ranking search results.
This update quickly earned the name “Mobilegeddon.”
Today, Google uses a website’s mobile-friendliness as a crucial indicator of a successful user experience. Your overall rating in search results will likely be impacted if your website doesn’t load quickly or if your web design isn’t optimised for mobile SEO.
Core Web Vitals
One of the most important Google updates that came out last 2021 was Core Web Vitals, which now considerably impacts how well a website performs in search results.
The three performance indicators that Core Web Vitals uses to measure page speed, responsiveness, and visual stability are the following:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – measures the length of time it takes for the main page content to load.
- First Input Delay (FID) – is a metric used to gauge how quickly an interactive website becomes operational.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – measures the number of unexpected layout shifts on a page.
Along with non-Core Web Vitals like page speed and the amount of time it takes for an interactive element to load, these elements are included in Google’s broader “Page Experience” score.
Google values websites that provide a better user experience and have a higher Page Experience score, and as a result, these websites perform better in organic search results.
Why is UX Important for SEO?
One simple truth summarises the underlying relationship between user experience and SEO: If search engines detect that consumers don’t instantly hit the back button after visiting your site, they are more likely to give you a higher ranking.
You must first examine how search engines like Google function to comprehend why.
Giving users the best possible answer to their search queries is Google’s main objective. Google wants consumers to use its search engine repeatedly, but if it directs them to unreliable, difficult-to-navigate websites, that won’t happen.
This is where user experience comes into play.
A better user experience is delivered by well-designed websites that have easy navigation, function well on all devices, and don’t hide their content behind adverts. In doing so, people spend more time on the website and are more likely to engage with the content.
Google prefers these websites over those where visitors promptly exit the page after arriving. This is because when users click on the result, it’s obviously not the view they expect on a website.
The key to attaining strong search performance is, therefore, to create a favourable user experience.
The best part is that when you improve user experience, Google automatically ranks your website higher for usefulness, relevance, and helpfulness.
How UX Helps to Improve SEO Ranking in 2022
Marketers can get some of the most amazing outcomes by properly balancing UX and SEO. The mobile friendliness and flexibility might have a favourable effect on the SEO ranking factor. Both the search engines and the website’s visitors must be taken into account while working on SEO for your website.
Many of the factors that enhance UX also enhance SEO. Here are a few examples of how they work together:
Positive User Signal
The length of time visitors spend on your site is increased by UX improvements. Thanks to simple navigation, users can quickly access more content they’re interested in. Google can identify that consumers found your website beneficial if they stayed on it for a long time.
Your ranks increase because Google wants to offer valuable material.
Increase Page Loading Speed
Over 80% of users anticipate that pages will load in three seconds or less. By providing users with the content they desire more quickly, increasing page speed enhances the user experience. As a result, increasing the speed at which your site loads benefits both your UX and SEO. Google takes page speed into account when deciding how to rank pages.
Backlinks
Your website is effectively recommended to its audience when someone connects to it. People want the websites they link to benefit their audience and offer a positive user experience. Therefore, UX improvements can boost the number of backlinks you receive.
Your rankings can be greatly enhanced by the quality and quantity of websites that link to yours. Therefore, UX might boost your SEO by assisting you in acquiring more connections.
Getting People to Click and Take Action
They found your website thanks to SEO, but what would compel them to click the CTA? You may achieve this by creating a user experience (UX) design that captures their interest and incorporates elements that compel them to click and take action.
Mobile-Friendliness
People use mobile devices for 70% of their Internet time, and 74% of users think a mobile-friendly website increases the likelihood of revisiting it. Additionally, improving your site’s mobile friendliness can help it rank higher.
Google started employing mobile-first indexing, which primarily considers the mobile version of your content for ranking, as of July 2019 for all new websites.
User-Friendly Layouts
The layout, organisation, and font size of a website can affect your SEO. To increase use and traffic, UX design may incorporate aesthetics and SEO elements.
The website must contain images, videos, and calls to action.
Additionally, you can use clear headers, organise and format the content so that it is simple to comprehend or offer links to other pertinent stuff. A content or image rotation script can also be used to change your website’s content with each visitor randomly.
UX and SEO Best Practices
Are you wondering how you can improve both your UX and SEO while making sure they complement one another? Follow these SEO and UX best practices:
Combine Your UX and SEO Strategies
UX and SEO are sometimes handled separately by two independent teams. It’s critical to take both UX and SEO into account when developing a new page or website. Increase communication between your UX and SEO teams, and keep both in mind as you develop your website.
Perform a UX SEO Audit
If you currently have a website, you might want to perform a UX SEO assessment.
A UX analysis reveals how users interact with your website and point out areas that can be improved.
An SEO audit, on the other hand, examines the SEO performance of your website and can assist you in enhancing it as well.
Start with a free SEO Checker tool and perform a complete audit for a more thorough evaluation.
Conduct Ongoing Testing
For your website to perform better over time, you must regularly test it. Split testing can help you identify the adjustments that have the biggest positive effects on user experience.
Split testing is building two distinct iterations of a website and displaying each to various users.
The performance of the two versions can then be compared to determine which is the best. You’ll keep the page that performs the best after seeing the results.
You can adjust certain pages and check to see if your rankings increase to test your SEO.
Achieve Great UX and SEO With Us
Both SEO and UX share the same objectives, and that is to meet user needs. When you combine the two, you have a powerful formula for both more sales AND improved search rankings.
However, this does not imply that optimising your UX for SEO would be simple. There are other components that, if used improperly, could have the exact opposite effect on your website.
Therefore, if you want to rank highly and make a lot of money, you need to bring in the big guns. Hire a professional web design agency that is aware of the needs for creating a website that both users and search engines will appreciate.
The good news is that Digital Rescue is close by and ready to help your brand. Call us right now, and we’ll create the best website for your business with the help of a reliable SEO Agency that will undoubtedly improve your search rankings in no time.
