Improving the user experience on your website is probably the most reliable way to improve its SEO and make it more resilient to change. You see, with every update, Google is trying to make their algorithm more user-friendly. As a company and a service provider, Google is giving its best to provide its clients with the ultimate UX. This means that instead of guessing where their algorithm will go next, you can simply try applying some of the best UX principles. This way, you will effortlessly be able to keep up with the principles of SEO and give your online presence a sizable rank boost.
1. Focus on making a good first impression
A good first impression is about more than prestige or vanity. The first impression is directly related to the way your audience perceives your website’s credibility. Moreover, if the first experience with your site is negative, chances are that your audience will decide to shop with competitors, instead. There are always other options online, which is why you should never underestimate this issue. The problem is that this first experience is a bottleneck. Both chance visitors and qualified leads will encounter your website for the first time, at one point, if they don’t like what they see, chances are that they’ll just give up. From the standpoint of SEO better first impression means a lower bounce rate.
2. Simpler navigation and architecture
The next thing you need to focus on is your site’s navigation. This is the main determiner of how your audience uses your website. It determines their length of duration, the number of pages they return to and the total number of pages that they manage to visit. Since you have two types of audience (human and robot), the equivalent for crawlers would be website architecture. Keep in mind that simpler is always better when this is concerned. So, try to keep things light and intuitive.
3. Clarity of information
Expert web designers from Perth claim that regardless of how hard you want to visually impress your visitors; the clarity of information is still a priority. Readability, the ability of the screen to adjust to various devices and screen formats and the ability of your website to functions under various circumstances are pivotal. Sure, you’re aiming for impressive visuals but you should never sacrifice functionality for them. With the right team on your side, this is a choice that you will never have to make.
4. Visual hierarchy
How do people figure out what is what on your website’s layout? Well, probably not consciously. The human mind is wired to pay attention to differences in scale, size, colour and direction. Moreover, whitespace allows people to focus more heavily on relevant elements. Even the position is quite relevant since it assigns the level of priority that elements of the same dimensions get. In the digital world, there are also numerous expectations that come from previous experience. For instance, a logo that takes you to the homepage is usually at the top left corner of the screen and the sign-in button is usually at the top left corner of the screen.
5. The Hick-Hyman Law
One of the things you need to focus on is the Hick-Hyman law and its applications in design. You see, according to one Harvard Business School review, people who have 24 options to choose from are 10 times less likely to make a choice than those who have 6 varieties to pick from. This is something that you should focus on when making a choice of which interactive elements you want to upload. It makes the CTR of your website higher. Also, since every element is an additional HTTP request, this type of minimalism might also make your website run a lot smoother.
6. Be efficient with your meta descriptions
The next thing you need to learn is how to be more efficient with your meta descriptions. This is something you do in order to get your website indexed a lot sooner. There are several rules you should follow. First, you need to use less than 160 characters. Second, you should find a way to integrate a good CTA into the meta description. Lastly, try to promise a value of some sort to your audience. What will they learn? What will they find out? Which new opportunity will become available?
7. Prepare for voice search
The last thing you need to do is prepare your website for voice search. You see, voice search is a feature that has more online users with each passing day. Optimizing for voice search is not like traditional optimization. There are a couple of tricks that you will have to master in order to figure it out. First, nonetheless, you need to develop an in-depth understanding of voice search and the niche it fills in the modern SEO industry.
In conclusion
One last thing you need to bear in mind is that the application of these UX principles to your SEO may improve your business model as a whole. Better first impression, sleeker design, faster website and similar upgrades are worth it even as standalone means. When you add to this equation the importance of improving user experience and boosting your SEO efforts, what you get is an opportunity that you shouldn’t ignore. Just remember that this is a lengthy process and that it will take some time until you get exactly what you need.
Nick Brown
