A decade ago, you could rank your site simply upon keywords and backlinks. Wish it was as simple as that! Times have changed. It demands much more to rank. The variables include bounce rates, time spent on a site, pages visited through it, and much more.

The correlation between User Experience and SEO

Google considers real human behavior to rank. A site must have fundamental on-page SEO along with a great UX design. A great design is not only that which is attractive but also user-friendly and simple that supports long engagement. This will determine the quality of the site and top search ranking results pages (SERPs).

When people have a frictionless user experience, they share their joy with others. They spread the word, link to, and recommend. This, in turn, boosts ranking too. Essentially, user experience is a building block to optimize SERP. Say yes to higher page views and better conversions with the right balance between SEO and UX.

Hold on for a moment and think.

• Do you provide quality content?
• Do the visitors engage in your content?
• Does your site adhere to security norms?
• Is your site platform-friendly?
• How fast is your site?
• Before we proceed, let us clarify two things.

Ranking factors refer to the elements that influence or determine your ranking.

Site Navigation

SEO favors robust architecture for sites. This leads to complex navigation. The challenge is to debunk the former SEO practices. We need to bid goodbye to granular pages that have clustered keywords.

Ahrefs recommends having one content-rich and highly user-friendly page that has all the related keywords. This single page can be a powerful asset to address varied search queries.

Navigation should be as easy as a child’s play. Check against fancy popups or hide-and-seeks that not only disturb the reader but also affect the user experience. The user should not get lost finding the way back to the site or home page.

For example, the Menu button should be obvious. In addition, the dropdown menu should not fill the entire screen hiding away the content underneath. Especially with mobile devices, users get annoyed with such instances.

UI Layouts

UI design or layouts should compliment SEO. The size of the font and the amount of content should support SEO. This companionship helps you drive organic traffic to your website.

Content should be ideal

Though SEO supports a higher word count, the site must not be burdened with text-heavy content. Remember, it is not a technical manual. Make content easy to absorb. Organize it with the right amount of headers and images. Break and organize your content in smaller paras. The use of bullets or numbered lists would be a great benefit, as Google promotes features snippets.

The hierarchical heading tags

Each page should have one Header 1 tag. It defines the main idea behind the page along with the primary keyword. The headings should help the visitor to understand what sections talk about. This logical hierarchy from h1 to h6 ensures that the crawlers do not get confused or lost on the page. It helps the reader to focus. Use the tags liberally wherever necessary. Adding keywords in the subheadings helps to rank too.

Visual representations

Visual media such as images and videos grab the attention of users. In addition, it helps SEO too. Add relevant images or videos that support the content. Use images to illustrate your ideas. However, make sure you keep them lightweight be it in shades or colors. Do not forget to optimize the images. A good image should be able to squeeze down to <50kb. Further, use graphs and statistical reports that add weightage to your content.

Action buttons

Use CTAs to ensure conversion rate optimization (CRO). This holds your users for longer. Add backlinks or CTA buttons such as learn more. Once you have satisfied the user by tickling their interest in your content and user journey, the next task is to provoke them to take the next course of action.

Natural Language Processing

The latest Google technologies such as RankBrain and BERT guide Google to understand human behavior. In other words, it provides insights into people’s expectations for a search query. The latest Passages algorithm of Google directs the user to the relevant section in a long web page. Thus, the users can directly find the answer with ease.

Thus Google uses machine learning and ranks web pages based on the answers it provides. It matches the keywords of the content with the search query. In other words, Google matches questions with the answers, not keywords!

Page Speed Optimization

GTmetrix is a powerful UX as well as SEO toolbox. It provides actionable load speed insights. With these, you can minimize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or third-party scripts. Avoid sliders and other functionalities when they are not on the page. Besides, check against caching, or redirects.

Site speed is crucial for ranking. Google serves users with the best possible and hence it supports fast-loading websites. Make use of other similar test engines such as Google PageSpeed Insights or Web. Dev. Though the recommendations vary in these tools, ultimately all these tools guide page speed optimization.

Platform Responsiveness

Did you know that 50% of your traffic comes from mobile searches? I am sure you would not compromise on it then!

Use mobile-responsive designs to ensure usability and SEO optimization. When you fail to, you lose half of your users. The website must be responsive across all platforms such as tablets, web browsers, mobile devices. This drives your user engagement performance. You can get the benefit of Google’s Mobile-friendly Testing tool.

Acknowledge your Users

Never miss out to acknowledge your customer. Be diverse in your choice. If your potential users are middle-aged, target them in your content and visual representation.

Similarly, do not stick to a specific cultural set. Let your content and images target people across society. Make every reader comfortable by acknowledging them!

The right combination of SEO and UX

Now that you have understood the role of UX in SEO, get the best combination of it to attract both human visitors and search engines. Coordinate with your UX design company, SEO strategists, and content creators and provide the best answers for queries.