Google is smart. Smarter than you or us, and long gone are the days when you could trick it into listing a shoddy site based on SEO (search engine optimisation) keywords and meta descriptions.
What is UX?
If you haven’t heard of UX, you need to get familiar with the term. It stands for ‘user experience’ and it will make or break your online business. Your users need to have a good experience with your website or app, allowing them to easily do what they’re there for.
UX involves everything from the colours you choose (is the text easy to read?) to the placement of buttons (how do I make an order?) and ease of accessing help. It’s the words you use, the function of images, the layout of the interface, the spacing, the font size. In short, it’s good design for humans.
To win Google, build for people
Here’s a rule of thumb for improving your SEO:
Build a good website that people like to use, and the search engines will follow.
Assume that Google knows all. It knows how many people visit your site, it knows how long they spend there, it knows if they come back for more, and it probably knows whether they bought something, read articles, or contacted you.
Google wants the best for its users, so it shows them websites it knows they will want to visit and have a good experience with.
Signs you might have bad UX
- People are coming to your site from ads, social media and marketing, but you have low conversions. This may mean they like the look of what you offer, but find the site hard to use.
- Lots of help requests. Your site probably is not intuitive enough, and people are resorting to asking for guidance. This is a waste of your time, and for every person who contacts you, many more probably give up and move on.
- You have to explain to people what you do. If you can’t explain your business in one sentence, your website probably isn’t doing it very well either. Think about how to communicate what you do simply (or talk to the pros at SOMO Creative) and make your website tell that story.
- You have many, many pages. For some businesses, this is unavoidable. However, it can be a sign you’ve overcomplicated things.
But don’t just believe us. Here’s what other experts have to say.
Forbes: 2021 Google Algorithm Update: Double Down On Website User Experience
Adobe Research senior web engineer Atul Jindal: UX: an important SEO ranking factor
Search Engine Journal: How to Improve SEO With User Experience Factors
Is UX the new SEO?
Investing in updating your user experience (or building top-notch UX into your site from day one) is a no-brainer.
Firstly, it helps people use your site, buy things, contact you, inform themselves, or take part in whatever your mission might be. Secondly, if people are having a good time on your website, search engines will learn about it and start directing more, new people to your site.
If you’re interested in finding out how better UX can improve your website and get more Google hits, talk to the team at SOMO Creative for a website audit and ideas on how to take things to the next level.
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