The importance of UX in SEO
User experience (UX) has become an integral part of SEO. Google announced back in 2015 that UX would be a mobile positioning criterion in the years to come. The search engine has recently updated its referencing criteria, and classic SEO is no longer sufficient. You might be wondering what the link is betweenUX and SEO?
First of all, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. It can also be described as SEO ready or Google Friendly. This expression characterizes a website that is naturally optimized for search engines, and therefore has good SEO. An SEO Friendly site is designed to meet the recommendations of the various search engines, whether in terms of structure or content. But what does this have to do with user experience?
What is user experience?
The term “user experience” or “UX” (for User eXperience) was coined in the 90s by Donald Norman, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California.
According to him, this user experience “encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with a company, its services and its products”.
The term UX refers to a user’s emotional experience of an interface, a service or even an object.
In order to progressively improve UX and reach the standards defined by Google, it’s important to ask ourselves some simple questions, putting ourselves in the user’s shoes:
How easy is it to contact you?
Is the website loading time optimal?
Is it easy for users to understand what you offer?
Is your offer easy to access?
Does your website look professional? Is it visually pleasing to the user?
Is navigation on the website pleasant for the user?
Can visitors intuitively find the information they’re looking for?
Do you address users directly, focusing on their needs?
Are your images unique? Do they really reflect what you’re proposing?
Have you integrated a CTA to direct users to the answer to their needs?
How often do you answer visitors’ questions?
Can users find out more about any of the topics you cover?
Why take care of the user experience?
The answer is obvious: to satisfy your potential customers, first and foremost. But now also to please the Google algorithm. Indeed, if your site and its content meet all the criteria searched for and requested by the Google robot, your site will have a better chance of being better referenced… and better referencing automatically means better accessibility and, in turn, increased visibility.
All this will give you an edge over your competitors. It’s a marketing element that can’t be overlooked. However, this logic is not random: Google does not use a common policy… quite the contrary. It will tend to favor a qualitative site that provides a certain added value. UX refers to how your visitors will perceive your website. If this feeling is positive, they’ll come back. If it isn’t, you already know the answer. And that’s something Google can now see.
It is able to discern whether visitors to whom it has recommended a site in its results are satisfied. In other words, whether the site it proposed in its results was suitable for the keyword searched for. If visitors return to a competitor’s site, stay for a short time, or visit only a few pages, Google will conclude that this site may not be the most suitable and will review its position. Even more so if these data are better when these same visitors go to a competitor’s site.
In addition, UX aims to convert visitors into customers through a positive experience on the website or via a product. Its role is to :
Make a website easier to find
Convert traffic
Test and adapt the experience to target audiences
Help visitors find what they’re looking for
Turning visitors into return visitors
How to optimize UX and combine it with SEO?
1 – Focus on quality and speed up website loading times. I am referring to:
Page loading speed
Easy navigation
Internal structure
No duplicate content
Relevant, descriptive content
Page layout
2 – Offer content and interactive elements
3 – Ensure responsiveness and design: create content not only for your visitors, but also for search engines:
Maximize H1 and H2 titles
Optimize menu and feature names, link equity
Create a clear navigation path
Provide well thought-out product names and descriptions
4 – Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and try to provide them with as much comfort and quality as possible at every stage of their visit.
