User experience is one of the topics that has received a lot of attention in the SEO debate in recent years. We can no longer optimize a site for search engines and get to the first page of Google results just by relying on keywords, content production and link building like a decade ago. And this is due to the impact of the user experience on SEO. These days, new factors are being considered by Google, one of the most important of which is the user experience. The importance of user experience in SEO is so great that it can change the fate of our site.
Improving the user experience is no longer a privilege, it is a must and we must do it by default. To learn more about the importance of user experience in SEO, its impact and how to improve the site user experience, stay with us until the end of this article. We suggest that if you are not yet fully familiar with the principles of SEO and site optimization, be sure to see the SEO training page to have a good mental background to better understand this issue.
What is meant by user experience or UX?
User Experience In the simplest possible way, it is about having a deep understanding of users. That is, we know what users need, what their values are, and what their capabilities and limitations are. Why do we need to know this? Based on these needs and values, we can create a pleasant and meaningful experience for users and improve the quality of our relationship with them.
This allows more audiences to become our customers and, at best, customers to become loyal customers. From how the site is designed to the type and quality of content, the quality of site optimization and… are all factors that together form the user experience of a site. These principles, if implemented properly, can create effective interaction and a rewarding user experience.
A different look at the true meaning of user experience or UX
User experience or UX is a relatively new term that is a very simple definition of a user’s personal experience of your site. What is left in the public mind about the user experience is the ease of use and visual appeal of the site, but in fact, if we look at the subject of the user experience from a Google lens, the true meaning of it will go far beyond these two definitions.
From Google UX’s point of view, it is not just a matter of designing a usable and attractive site, but encompasses all user interactions with the site; From basic interactions such as entering the site and product pages to efficient and useful content, easy and enjoyable to work with the site and even the services that you provide to meet his needs!
User experience with real elements of site design, content and site optimization for search engines (SEO) finds real meaning and concept. In fact, improving the user experience, just like a strong driving force, helps to improve and develop these three. Here’s why we need to improve the user experience in these sections and how to improve the user experience in each section.
Why should we care about improving the user experience in site design?
Providing a good user experience is fast becoming the most important differentiation between sites. but why? Imagine a user experiencing a negative experience while interacting with your site or encountering a problem and leaving your site. Even if this happens only once, it is likely that the user will not visit your site again, and in the worst case will share their experience about it with others.
You may not believe it, but the website of many businesses, despite having good services and products, for this reason is out of competition. Therefore, user experience is important in the discussion of site design, because it tries to meet the needs of the user, and its ultimate goal is to provide a positive experience to the user and build loyalty to the product or brand. But if we want to explain this a little more broadly, it is important to pay attention to the user experience in designing the site, for several reasons:
1- Makes the site more attractive for users
Humans are inherently interested in beauty. Just as when we see a beautiful face or scene, we like to watch it many times and enjoy it, so it is with sites that have a beautiful and unique design. When a user enters a site that is attractive in terms of design, color theme, and visual and textual content, he or she enjoys using it and feels good. As a result, he tends to visit the same site next time, which means making the user more attractive.
2- Improves and increases the conversion rate
There are many sites that offer similar products or services, but customers always choose a site that has an easier and more engaging user experience. According to studies, a good user experience can increase the conversion rate by up to 400%! It has also been proven that usability and optimal access to site features have an incredible effect on customer satisfaction, and can increase users’ desire to visit site pages and make purchases.
3- Makes the site easy to use for users
Most people these days are overwhelmed with busy personal and work-related activities, and no one wants to add the experience of searching online for a topic, or buying a product, to other concerns. Everyone wants to achieve the desired result in the shortest possible time. So it is very important that you make the user use the features of your site as easily as possible and very easily. Otherwise there are dozens of other sites for the user to visit.
4 – Saves advertising time and money
Even if users have all the free time in the world, they still do not want to waste it searching for a boring site. But if your site’s UX is user-friendly, not only will users spend many hours browsing your site, but they will also become loyal users and customers who, without the least cost and in the shortest time, advertise and market the site. You will.
How to improve the user experience in site design discussion?
Now that you know the reasons for the importance of user experience in site design, it’s time to get acquainted with the factors that improve user experience in site design. These factors include:
1. Discuss UX design standards
First and foremost, get help from the UX team or a professional user experience designer. In fact, first discuss the standards that should be considered in the design of your site. Analyze the designs or ideas thoroughly to finally reach the best possible design and structure for your site.
2- Use standard and tested templates
Use a template that has already been tested and passed the exam. A template that is standard and has not had any complexities or strange changes in its design. Users usually prefer simple and minimal templates to complex ones.
3- Focus on meeting the user’s needs and a simple design
Design different items, options and sections of the site exactly according to the needs of users and optimally. Try to get the user to the desired page or goal in the shortest possible time and very easily; Especially on store sites.
4- Make sure the site is responsive on all devices
Responsive means being site compatible with different screen sizes such as mobile, tablet and laptop, etc. In fact, with Response Design, the site is displayed correctly in almost all browsers and monitors. According to recent Google reports, the number of mobile searches is increasing every day and competing with the number of desktop searches. So in order not to be in this competition, be sure to open your site with mobile phones without any problems.
5- Pay attention to the beauty, stylish and modern user interface
The beauty of the site, having a modern and at the same time stylish and simple template, is a good advantage for your site, which will encourage the user to stay on the site and visit other pages and sections of the site.
6. Use colors , typography and mocaps wisely
It is best to use colors, typography, mocaps, images, engravings and graphics wisely so that you make the most of the empty spaces and do the layout based on aesthetic principles and user-centered design. These, in turn, improve the user experience.
Why should we care about improving the user experience in SEO and content?
SEO includes a set of actions that are done with the aim of optimizing the site for search engines. User experience or UX are measures taken to optimize how users interact with the site. Prior to recent updates to Google’s core, the two factors were unrelated. But with the recent path taken by Google to make “user satisfaction” a top priority for site rankings, user experience has also indirectly become one of the factors in optimizing the site and its content. To see the role of the way to learn SEO, we suggest you read the SEO training page.
What does the user experience have to do with SEO and content?
Content of any kind (text, image, video, etc.) is the strongest SEO arm of the site. On the other hand, the correct and principled use of this content in user experience design has a key role in the correct transmission of messages to users. So if we take a closer look at these two issues, we will find that if the SEO content that is prepared to optimize the site, by providing a user experience design in an attractive and user-friendly format, can improve the site’s SEO ranking; The relationship between user experience and SEO and site content is just as subtle and interconnected.
Interestingly, even Google itself actively promotes a great user experience in search engine results; A good example of this is the unveiling of the unique SERP features with the MUM algorithm that was introduced at the Google search on 2021 event.
Why are UX and SEO interdependent?
SEO focuses on directing the visitor to the site and the user experience on turning this visitor into a customer and ultimately earning money. The connection between SEO and UX is exactly this; That is, turning clicks into customers and, at best, into loyal customers. Working on improving the user experience is completely in line with improving the site’s SEO and improving its position in Google results ranking.
So if you want to turn the inputs of different pages of the site into customers and revenue, one of the ways is to improve the user experience of the site. Since we are currently talking about the importance of user experience in SEO, it is better to mention algorithms that care about user experience.
SEO experience is important for which of Google’s algorithms?
If you’ve worked with the Google Search Console, be sure to familiarize yourself with the Page Experience section. This section is related to evaluating the pages of your site based on how users interact and understand, or in other words, analysis of the site user experience. All the factors that are displayed on this page and the site SEO is affected by them are the same factors that are discussed in the UX discussion. And that means user experience is important to Google algorithms ; But which algorithms ?!
1- First index mobile algorithm
Mobile First Index algorithm is Google’s response to changing the behavior of users in using mobile for Internet searches instead of desktop. Given that Responsive sites are more popular for this algorithm, and on the other hand the responsiveness of the site is an important factor in improving the user experience, so do not doubt the first algorithm that looks at your site user experience for SEO ranking, Mobile Is the First Index.
2- Rank Brin algorithm
Ranking algorithm is Google’s latest solution to process data more accurately and display the best results to users. Given that in this new Google technology, it is very important to examine user behavior after displaying search results and user satisfaction when searching sites, and on the other hand, the ultimate goal of UX is to satisfy the user and create a good sense of search in him, so if Your site can perform well in terms of user experience, it has received an acceptable score from this algorithm. For more information, read What is a Rank Brain Algorithm ?
3- Burt algorithm
Google’s Brett algorithm is designed based on understanding the user’s content needs, and understanding the purpose of the user search and optimizing the site for it is the key to success in this algorithm. Burt examines the site user experience from the standpoint of whether you understand the purpose of users’ search, and whether or not you produce content in the language in which users are searching! For more information, read What is the Brett Algorithm article .
4- Hummingbird chicken algorithm
Search accuracy and speed in responding to users are two factors that are the focus of the Hummingbird algorithm. The easier and faster the UX design of your site, so that the user can answer the question as soon as they enter the site, the stronger the user experience in terms of this algorithm; As a result, you deserve a better ranking.
5- Panda algorithm
Generating content for the user in compliance with SEO standards is the most important issue that Panda Algorithm examines. But not just in terms of textual content, but in terms of everything the user sees as content when entering the site, which is also an important part of a comprehensive user experience design. Panda does not pay any attention to the technical and structural aspects of the site, but in terms of aesthetics and content quality, it is fully capable of understanding the value and impact of your UX on users, evaluating it and considering it in the rankings. For more information, read the article What is a Panda Algorithm?
How to improve the user experience in SEO and content discussion?
As mentioned earlier, Google is constantly evaluating the user experience and their satisfaction with various sites. Because according to Google’s new ranking strategies, user satisfaction is higher on sites that have a better user experience. As a result, these sites rank better in Google results. So it is not in vain to say that Google results are influenced by the user experience.
But let’s look at how to use the impact of user experience on SEO growth, and with the help of UX, improve SEO performance and site content. There may be different ways to do this, but we want to introduce you to 5 practical and powerful techniques that you can use to make the most of the positive effects of UX on SEO:
1- Increase the loading speed of the site pages
Over the past few years, Google has repeatedly stated that increasing the page loading speed and optimizing the site speed is effective in ranking the results. Users usually close the pages of sites that have speed problems and take more than 10 seconds to load. Therefore, paying attention to the issue of site speed as one of the factors influencing the user experience in SEO, reduces the bounce rate and improves the site SEO.
2- Take the responsiveness of the site seriously
Responsive web design (RWD) allows the site to respond to the dimensions and model of the user’s device, or in other words, to be smooth and flexible to different screens. Responsiveness of the site is very important for Google algorithms, because it improves customer access to site content with smaller devices (tablets and smartphones), increases conversion rates, saves time and cost of managing site content, and ultimately outperforms competitors. .
3- Design site pages user-friendly
User-friendliness is one of the topics that you should take seriously the impact on SEO, because it can be a powerful difference between you and your competitors. User-friendliness and quality of site design means that users can easily and quickly find the information they need; Good and planned content architecture, proper formatting of content types, proper management of error types, use of schema codes and paying attention to forms (registration, registration of information, etc.) are the factors that make a site User Friendly.
5- Use attractive titles and content
Be obsessive about choosing page titles, articles, as well as types of textual and visual content. Content is not just used to SEO different pages for a particular keyword; That era is over. In the current situation, you should also pay attention to the content from the perspective of the user experience. Write and design content that:
- Be attractive and fun
- Create curiosity in the audience or, in other words, engage his mind
- Be value-creating and efficient
- Have a positive effect on him
5- Optimize site structure
A good site structure means creating a great user experience for the audience. Designing a standard site structure is the core of site SEO for Google crawlers. In general, a good structure paves the way for your site to succeed in SEO. Without a strong structure, SEO success is not possible. Strong structure breaks the SEO basics of the site, and gives you a wide range of organic searches.
6- Have a purposeful landing page
Landing design may seem simple, but a professional landing page when it comes to user experience design requires its own CSS and HTML. The arrangement of the elements should be in the best possible way, so that it leads the user to the same goal that he and we want.
7- Do not forget to redirect 404 pages
404 pages confuse users and in many cases lead to the loss of valuable audiences. Find these pages with the right tools, including Google Console Search, and Website Editor و, and redirect to the most relevant page on the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is UX part of the SEO process?
UX or user experience design optimizes how the user interacts with the site, and SEO optimizes the site for search engines. In the past, the two factors were not directly related, but with the recent path taken by Google and making “user satisfaction” the first and last priority of site rankings, UX has also indirectly become one of the most important factors in site optimization. Is.
Why is user experience important for SEO?
The purpose of SEO and UX is to help improve the user experience for using the site. SEO directs the user to the required content and UX encourages the user to search the site pages. So the more you pay attention to UX, the longer it will last on the page, the lower the bounce rate, the higher the conversion rate, and in a word, the maximum user satisfaction.
How does user experience affect SEO processes?
SEO focuses on driving traffic to the site, and the user experience focuses on converting the traffic that SEO brings to your site to customers. SEO and UX must go hand in hand if you want to get qualified traffic to your website to turn them into paid customers.
Why is it important to pay attention to user experience in site design?
Paying attention to the user experience in site design is important for several reasons:
- Create attractiveness for users
- Increase conversion rate
- Convenient and easy to use
- Save advertising time and money
SEO experience is important for which of Google’s algorithms?
- Mobile-First Index
- Rank Brin
- bert
- Hummingbird
- Panda
How to use the positive effects of UX in the discussion of SEO and content?
- Improve the loading speed of site pages
- Responsive design and compatible with mobile and tablet
- User-friendliness and quality of site design
- Choose attractive titles and content
- Site structure optimization
Concluding remarks
In this article, we tried to introduce the user experience and examine the importance of paying attention to it in site design, and see how we can improve site SEO by taking UX more seriously as an influential factor in site optimization.
If we want to summarize the whole story in a few lines, the result will be:
Old-fashioned SEO factors may still be influential in optimizing sites, but focus more on the user experience to meet the needs of users. By doing this, you will improve your site SEO and you will see great results in ranking your site in SERP results.