For Australian SMEs, it’s no longer enough for you to have a functioning website. Your website shouldn’t merely attract visitors – it also needs to keep them engaged. Doing so will kick into gear a kind of virtuous circle:
- Improving user experience (UX)
- Users spend more time on your site
- Google rewards you for pleasing site visitors by bumping you up rankings
- This online visibility means more visitors to your site
And so, the ideal Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) cycle continues. In this article, we’ll look at the growing awareness of the connection between UX and SEO and offer practical tips to boost your visibility thanks to an enhanced website.
Understanding UX and Its Role in SEO
User Experience (UX) refers to a user’s overall interaction with a website or app. So, it refers to everything a user encounters – the site’s design features, its navigation, how the content looks, how quickly it loads, etc.
A positive UX means users can find what they’re looking for quickly and enjoyably, leading to higher satisfaction and engagement levels.
So, how does this affect SEO?
Search engines like Google aim to provide users with answers or solutions to their questions and queries. Their business model relies on being able to provide users with relevant, high-quality results.
To achieve this, Google measures how well a website is likely to satisfy any given user query by considering various ‘ranking’ factors.
Among other things, metrics like bounce rates and pages per session indicate the quality of a site. Put very simply, if a user spends time on a website, doesn’t immediately leave, and navigates through several pages, this may suggest a positive UX.
This scenario signals to search engines that your site may be valuable to users.
Let’s examine some of the influential UX factors a little more closely:
Site Architecture and Navigation
An intuitive site structure helps users easily find all the information they need. This reduces the likelihood of them simply leaving your site out of frustration.
Impact on SEO: A well-organised site also makes it easier for search engine crawlers to index your pages. You get rewarded for a clear site structure.
Actionable tips:
- Use clear and descriptive menu labels and implement breadcrumbs to help users know exactly where they are on your site.
Breadcrumbs are a little trail of links, usually found at the top of a page, that shows you where you are on the site and how you got there. Here’s an example:
Home > Games > Puzzle Games > Jigsaw Puzzles
They are like maps or paths that show you the steps you took to arrive at the page you’re on.
- Use internal linking to guide users to related content within the site. This will save them from having to look for it themselves and will likely increase their time spent on your site.
- Limit the number of menu items if possible to avoid overwhelming users with too many options.
Mobile Responsiveness
Smartphones now account for over 70% of retail website visits worldwide. This tells us that a mobile-friendly site is no longer a nice-to-have but a priority.
Impact on SEO: Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means it predominantly uses the mobile version of a site for ranking and indexing.
Actionable tips:
- Implement responsive design techniques to ensure your site or app adapts to various screen sizes automatically.
- To check usability, regularly test your site on different mobile devices—smartphones, tablets, iPads, etc.
- Make buttons and links large enough for users to tap easily on touchscreens.
Page Load Speed and Core Web Vitals
It’s not rocket science to understand that slow-loading pages frustrate users. We’ve all been there. This is a website killer as slow-loading pages directly link to bounce rates.
Impact on SEO: Google considers page speed to be a crucial ranking factor. Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics related to speed, responsiveness, and visual stability.
Actionable tips:
- Optimise your images by compressing them without losing quality. Large image files often delay loading time.
- Minify CSS, Javascript, and HTML files. This means removing unnecessary characters from your website’s files. This doesn’t affect how the site looks or functions but reduces the file size. Cleaning it all up means pages load faster. It’s not as complicated as it sounds—there are plenty of tools and plugins available that can automatically minify these files for you without needing any technical expertise.
- Enable browser caching – store resource files locally on the user’s browser for faster load times on repeat visits.
Content Quality and Relevance
Never forget that quality content underpins all SEO. Users want solutions. High-quality content is the foundational starting point for everything else that keeps them engaged.
Impact on SEO: Engaging content reduces bounce rates and increases dwell time. Again, this signposts to search engines that your site is valuable.
Actionable tips:
- Conduct keyword research to understand what your audience is searching for. Create content that addresses their needs and questions.
- Organise your content with H1, H2, and H3 tags to improve readability
- Use bullet points and shorter paragraphs to make content easily digestible. People like to scan content for what they need, so facilitate this as best you can.
- Use clear, concise calls to action to direct the reader to what to do next, using action-oriented language. Go for a “Download the free guide” instead of a “Click here.” Position these CTAs where users are most likely to engage with them without interrupting the flow of content.
Visual Design and Aesthetics
The old cliches ring true as first impressions matter, even as the digital age evolves. A study from Stanford University suggests that 75% of users judge a company’s credibility based on its web design.
The takeaway? A professional and appealing design builds trust and keeps users on your site for longer.
Impact on SEO: A positive user perception can lead to increased engagement metrics, indirectly boosting SEO.
Actionable tips:
- Use a consistent colour scheme and typography.
- Ensure any images or graphics you include are high-quality and relevant. Users have a keen eye and can spot an unprofessional image a mile off.
- Limit off putting pop-ups. You can use them for a well-timed CTA, but ensure they are simple and easy to close.
Measuring UX Impact on SEO
Of course, you need to find some way of gauging the effectiveness of your efforts. In this way, you can make well informed decisions about how to optimise your website further. Here’s what to take a look at:
User Engagement Metrics
User engagement metrics reveal whether your UX enhancements are keeping users engaged or if there are areas that need improvement.
- Bounce rate – This metric shows the percentage of visitors who navigate away from your site after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate indicates an issue – you just need to figure out what it is.
- Dwell time – Dwell time refers to how long a visitor spends on a page before returning to the search results. Longer dwell times suggest that users find your content valuable and engaging.
- Pages per session – This measures the average number of pages a user views during a single visit. More pages viewed per session indicate effective internal linking and engaging content that encourages users to explore further.
You can monitor these metrics and more over time using Google Analytics. The intuitive tool helps you identify trends related to your UX improvements.
Utilise Heatmaps and User Testing
Google Analytics provides surface level basic metrics – the what of your site. What’s really useful is the why. Delving deeper into user behaviour can uncover specific areas where you can enhance UX.
- Heatmaps – Tools like Hotjar offer visual representations of how users interact with your site. Heatmaps show you where users click, move their cursor, and scroll, giving you a picture of how users behave on your site.
- User testing – Observing real users as they navigate your site provides direct feedback on usability. User testing can identify pain points, such as confusing navigation or unclear calls to action, that analytics alone might not reveal.
Both heatmaps and user testing give you insights that can help you make targeted improvements to the overall user experience and, consequently, SEO.
Assess Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals are a set of specific factors that Google considers important in a webpage’s overall user experience. They focus on aspects like loading performance and interactivity.
Google’s PageSpeed Insights is an invaluable tool to measure metrics related to your Core Web Vitals. Essentially, it analyses your site, providing detailed reports about these fundamentals, and includes recommendations on how to improve or fix any issues.
Final Thoughts on UX and SEO
Enhancing user experience is about so much more than just keeping visitors happy. Of course, it’s still about that, but there’s more to it. Keeping visitors happy is a strategic move that can significantly boost your search engine rankings and your online visibility.
That’s because what makes great UX also sends all the right signals to search engines.
Yet, we know that diving into the world of SEO and UX can be intimidating for business owners unsure of the right steps to take. It can also be time-consuming to get started.
Donohue specialises in helping businesses like yours, guiding you through the process to creating engaging, high-performing websites as part of broader SEO campaigns.
Contact us today for a free consultation and take the first step toward enhancing your online presence.
