How SEO Optimization Enhances User Experience and Improves Site Ranking?
Today, the website’s success largely depends on search engine optimization and paid marketing, but more so with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because it is the only tool to boost a site’s position in search results organically.
If you know of SEO, a well-executed SEO strategy can significantly improve a website’s user experience (UX), increasing engagement, lowering bounce rates, and improving site rankings on targeted keywords or phrases. Therefore, there is a strong interconnection between SEO and UX where one may affect the other.
We have asked a few top web developers in Melbourne to share their experience with SEO and Website UX.
The Interconnection between SEO and UX
An SEO-optimized website is more likely to have better UX and vice versa. Similarly, SEO is not only about keywords and search engine algorithms but also about prioritizing user experience.
Most experts point out that Google algorithms primarily focus on delivering the most relevant and user-friendly content to the readers, highlighting the importance of website UX and SEO practices.
An SEO-focused website UX always boasts improved website speed, user-friendly navigation and hierarchy, high content readability score, and mobile-friendliness.
Let’s talk further about how to improve your website’s SEO to get green-stamped by Google!
1. Quick Web Page Speed
The SEO-optimized website is more likely to be fast-loading, which is great news for Google’s search engine ranking.
Remember, faster-loading websites are more likely to rank higher as Google considers webpage speed a primary ranking consideration.
In terms of the UX Impact, website users expect faster loading websites. A slow page may only lead to frustration, increasing the risk of higher bounce rates.
Experts point out that 53 out of 100 mobile users abandon a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Therefore, try keeping the webpage load duration below 3 seconds.
2. Mobile Optimized Webpages
Modern developers have found an effective way to cater to mobile website users by focusing on three fundamental design principles.
- Start with customers’ experience in mind: This technique employs reverse engineering, where you work backward from the UX to the blueprint.
- Design semantically: Create anything based on the language and logic, which in this case is website usability and accessibility
- Design mobile-first: Conceive how a website will look on your mobile before creating a desktop website and retrofitting it to mobile.
Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, making it one of the significant ranking factors.
Therefore, mobile optimization has a more significant UX impact in creating designs that satisfy most web users.
3. User-friendly Site Structure and Navigation
Site structure and navigation are interconnected to website UX and SEO.
An improved website UX boasts a structure that helps visitors and search engines navigate and explore website content better.
Similarly, an easy-to-use navigation ensures users can find relevant information quickly, reducing the risk of increasing bounce rate.
Structure and navigation are the hierarchical arrangement of web pages and their relationship to one another. When done right, they can optimally boost Website UX experience and search engine ranking.
4. High Content Readability Score
The content is often ranked according to its readability score from 1 to 100; the higher the ranking, the better the website’s UX.
Google lauds creative and unique content, often aiming at 70 or over. Moreover, a good readability score indicates improved website UX, allowing readers to comprehend content easily.
Therefore, always hire an experienced content developer who can churn quality, SEO-friendly, and plagiarism-free content.
Moreover, the appropriation of repeated words, keyword usage, and overall reading ease are necessary.
5. Internal and External Linking
Internal and external linking play a vital role in improving website UX.
Internal linking helps search engines understand the relationship between different website pages, whereas external link helps enhance the user’s experience.
For instance, if you are talking about weight-loss pills in your blog, a user would expect to find a link to the purchase page.
Similarly, suppose your content’s motive is to educate users. In that case, it may be a great idea to add external links to websites that offer detailed information about the subject or provide references for cross-checking purposes.
Feel free to use the internal linking technique to connect two or more pages within the website, but keep external links exclusively to authoritative and credible websites like .org, .edu, .gov, etc.
6. Secure Website
HTTPS, or secure website, is a fundamental trust indicator that users often look at when accessing any website.
They are more likely to trust and engage with secure and reliable websites, increasing their likelihood of staying longer on the site.
Adding an SSL certificate to a website encrypts the data the users provide, keeping their information safe and improving the website’s UX.
Moreover, Google is more likely to rank a website with SSL encryption, which should be a significant consideration for any website.
Conclusion
SEO and UX are symbiotic. An SEO-optimized website ranks higher and provides a better user experience.
Consider Webbrew Australia for a web designer in Melbourne to improve UX and boost SEO performance by keeping users hooked to your website.