SEO

UX Designs Combined with SEO is Every Website’s Success Mantra

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing website traffic by making a website or a webpage more visible to search engines. By including elements such as page titles, Meta tags, sitemaps, link building etc. one can increase the overall quality of the website. However, it is often believed that SEO is all about incorporating such additional elements. But SEO strategies go far beyond this. There are various other factors that are taken into consideration during website ranking, and UI and UX design is one such important element. So, let’s dive straight into it.

How SEO and UI/UX is Interlinked

In order to understand the link between the two, it is essential to understand how SEO functions. The goal of SEO is to increase traffic and sales for a particular website by improving its visibility on SERP. And in order to maximize the traffic and to retain the existing customer base, providing a relevant and meaningful experience to the user is essential—and this is where User Experience Design (UX) comes into place. By offering an easy navigation system, user-friendly designs, mobile phone accommodation, and other crucial elements, UX increases site visits, therefore contributing immensely to SEOs ultimate goal.

UX and SEO is all About Happy Users

Underestimating the importance of UX in SEO is the biggest mistake business owners can make. If a website has a poor UX design, it can have a direct effect on organic rankings, as Google tweaks its algorithms on a regular basis. When doing so, Google and other search engines take into consideration the UX design of a website and how users respond to them. By linking the search query to the relevance of the content and other backlinks, the search engine give out a positive signal thus enabling a visitor to continue returning to a website. Thus, a user who is able to navigate through a website with ease and locates relevant content, is in-fact a happy user!

UX Design Factors that Affect SEO

From the above mentioned points, it is clear that in order to boost your SEO strategies, you ought to concentrate on UX designs. Here are some easy tips to improve a website’s UX design.

• Friendly Layout and Page Load Time

A page layout has a significant influence on any user, and a positive style and design will invoke a positive reaction. A page that consists of well displayed information, easy to retrieve content, and clear call to action (CTA) buttons, will result in the user being able to find exactly what he’s looking for with ease. And in order to do so, you can limit the number of clicks or linking pages between the homepage of a website and the product/services webpage. Additionally, menu labels and CTA buttons need to be placed in a prominent location so the process of viewing/purchasing/contacting is streamlined.

With respect to the page load time, several surveys conducted previously revealed that over 47% of internet users leave a website if it takes over 2 seconds to load. Thus, slow response time increases a website’s bounce rate and in-turn affects its rankings on the search engine. Therefore, in order to increase the conversion and retention rate, you need to improve your website’s speed by incorporating elements such as: a reliable host, compressed image resolution, invest in content delivery network, etc.

• Mobile Friendliness

Over 67%, viz, over two-thirds of the world’s total population, uses a mobile phone. And when it comes to the overall website traffic, as of 2018, over 52% of the traffic came via mobile phones. From this figure, it is undeniable that having a mobile-friendly design becomes a top priority for any business that functions online because, if a website isn’t mobile responsive, it loses out on over 50% of its traffic right from the start—which is why UX design becomes important. When concentrating on UX designs, mobile-friendliness is yet another aspect that is paid a keen attention to.

• Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, and URL

 Title Tags—an HTML element that reveals the title of a particular webpage. This is usually the clickable link provided below the headline on a search engine results page. By providing an appropriate and relevant title tag, along with specific keywords, the scope of grabbing a user’s attention increases, thus leading to higher traffic. Therefore, always use a title tag wisely.

 Meta Description is a 155 character limit tag in HTML that provides a brief summary of a webpage’s content. This is essentially the short description that is provided right below the clickable headline, and is an extension of what has been specified in the title tag. Again, if valuable content is provided here, the scope of getting clicked increases.

 A URL is an important factor when considering a positive user experience. By displaying the correct URL, you are not only helping a user find a relevant content, but are also helping the search engines rank your website appropriately. A URL helps a search engine understand what a webpage or website’s content is about and aids in indexing it appropriately.

• Navigation

Offering an easy navigation is the quickest way for a business to show a user that the business cares about them. By offering a synchronized menu link, grouping items into relevant headings, and by using appropriate keyword phrases, the user gets a clear and logical map of your products/services. In order to create an impressive and user-friendly website architecture, ensure that the homepage of the website is accessible from all webpages, clearly label all your categories, and provide a search box icon so the user can type out the required query in case he/she is unable to locate the exact information. You can also include informational menu labels and catchy CTAs for better navigation.

To conclude, the list provided here is definitely not a saturated one and even among these, there is always a chance to improve. This is why you need to test your website on a regular basis and check if the elements you’ve implemented is creating a positive impact to your end goal. And since search engine algorithms are changing on a regular basis, SEO professionals can also detail out the latest trends your business website can incorporate for better rankings and higher traffic.

If you have any questions, please ask below!