Search engine optimization is about helping your website rank high in search results. User experience (UX), focuses on how users interact with your site. UX is about the users. Google’s algorithm for SEO is irrelevant.
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SEO vs. UX is an ongoing battle when building a website. They can’t work together to achieve the same goals, but they can. Although SEO and UX are often seen as competing disciplines by marketers, designers, and business owners, they have more in common than one might believe.
Continue reading to learn about the differences between SEO and UX, how they can be combined, and what their similarities are. Kobe Digital is a full-service digital agency. We have extensive experience in both SEO as well as UX-focused website design. View our portfolio or Contact us for more information about our web design company in Miami.
What is SEO?
SEO refers to a set of techniques that improve a page’s ranking in search engines for related keywords. It is designed to increase traffic to a site via organic search results.
93% of online experiences start with a search engine and 75% don’t click beyond the first page of results, so SEO is essential to help people find your site.
What is UX?
UX is designed to enhance the user experience. UX is often referred to in terms of design. However, it can also refer to the entire customer experience with a company including its products and staff.
Good UX is a website design that keeps visitors on your site for longer periods, offers a better user experience, and increases conversions.
SEO vs. UX
Google and other search engines use complicated algorithms to rank websites within search results. These algorithms take into account more ranking factors. These algorithms are SEO.
Optimize pages to allow search engines to crawl them and rank them according to relevant keywords. SEO is about optimizing websites for algorithms. Some people think it’s not compatible with optimizing sites for human visitors. This belief is based on an outdated understanding of SEO.
SEO takes into account search engine algorithms. You might make changes to a website for SEO purposes that you wouldn’t otherwise. However, SEO and UX will become more similar as time goes by.
Google’s UX strategy
Google is constantly updating its algorithm to deliver better results to users. Google states that its goal is to provide users with the best information. It was simpler to manipulate the system in the past.
For example, SEOs might insert too many keywords in the content to make it difficult for users to understand. This tactic helped companies rank higher in search engines. Google finally cracked down on the tactic and similar ones.
This doesn’t mean that cheaters don’t still try to manipulate the system in ways that are harmful to users. Google does however work to find these tricks and penalize those who use them. Google now aims to rank pages that provide a great user experience. The algorithm is constantly improving at this task. If you make changes that improve user experience, it will also improve your SEO.
Google says that the best way to make your website Google-friendly is to create high-quality content which informs and engages your target audience.
How SEO and UX interact
Your SEO can be improved by many of the same things that improve UX. These are just a few of the ways they interact.
1. Positive user signals
Enhancing UX can increase the time visitors spend on your site. Users can easily access more content by using ‘s intuitive navigation. This indicates to Google that users have spent a lot of time on your website.
Your rankings will improve because Google is looking for useful content.
2. Backlinks
Linking to your site is a way for someone to recommend it to others. People expect sites that they recommend to others via linking to have good UX and be useful for their audience. UX improvements can help increase the number of backlinks that you receive.
Your rankings can be significantly improved by the quality and quantity of websites linking to you. UX can help you get more links and improve your SEO.
3. Page speed
More than 80% of people expect pages to load in less than three seconds. Your user experience is improved by improving page speed. This will allow people to find the information they are looking for faster. Google also considers page speeds in determining how pages are ranked. Therefore, improving your site’s loading speed will improve both your UX as well as your SEO.
Google also offers a free tool called PagesSpeed Insights that measures page speed and makes recommendations to improve it. Here is an example report:
4. Mobile-friendliness
The majority of Internet users spend 70% of their time on mobile devices. 74% of them say that they are more likely to return to a site if it is mobile-friendly. Having your website more mobile-friendly will improve your site’s rankings. Google started using mobile-first indexing in July 2019. This means that it uses your mobile content to rank new websites.
Google offers a free tool called The Mobile-Friendly Tool that allows you to test your website’s mobile-friendliness.
Best practices in UX and SEO
How can you improve your UX, and SEO and make them work together? These are the best UX and SEO practices.
1. Incorporate your UX and SEO strategies
Sometimes two teams may work together on SEO and UX in siloed ways. It is important to think about UX and SEO when creating new pages or websites. Maximize communication among your UX- and SEO teams, and keep both in mind throughout the design process.
2. Do a UX SEO audit
A UX SEO audit is a good idea if you have a website. A UX audit reveals information about visitors’ interactions with your site and identifies areas for improvement. An SEO audit evaluates the SEO performance of your site and helps you to make improvements.
For a deeper analysis, you can use the free SEO Checker or a complete audit.
3. Continually test
It is essential to test your website regularly to improve its performance. Split testing can be used to identify which changes result in the greatest UX improvements. Split testing is when you create two versions of a web page and show each one to different users.
The performance of both versions can be compared to determine which one is the best. You can then keep the page that performs best after analyzing the results. You can test SEO by making changes to pages to see if they improve your rankings.
SEO and UX: It is all about the users
While people often think of UX vs SEO, it is important to consider both when creating content for your site. For a website to be successful, both SEO and UX are crucial. SEO attracts people to your site, while UX helps them stay on your site longer and improves conversions.
Although SEO and UX may be two distinct disciplines, the users should always be at the heart of your SEO and UX strategies. Keeping this in mind, you can make many changes to improve your UX and vice versa. Kobe Digital has more than 25 years of experience in digital marketing services in Miami. We have helped many clients with their UX and SEO.
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