Can you afford to ignore UX for SEO? Do you optimize your business website for Google bot rather than the real users? If your reply is a big NO, then how can you afford to ignore UX for SEO? Being focused on SEO is not a bad practice but as far as UX is concerned, it is equally important. SEO undoubtedly helps you get traffic but what turns then and leads them to conversions is UX.

Role of SEO

When one said SEO, in earlier days, keyword stuffing, link building and search engine spamming with thin content. But with the advancement in Google’s algorithms and gap filling initiations, the scenario has changed a lot. Now SEO is more about being appropriate. The focus has been shifted from attracting traffic to attracting right people and offering them with what they are looking for and aptly satisfying their queries. Targeting a keyword has less significance as Google understands the intentions of your page and its relevance to the searchers.

About UX

UX, in simple words is all about the user and his experience while he is on your site. It emphasizes to enhance visitors experience by improving site usability and promoting interactions with your brand. In terms of business, UX is about achieving your business objectives by simply fulfilling user requirements. And in terms of marketers, everything that fall in the sphere of web marketing should keep ‘visitor’ in mind.

Relation between SEO & UX

Better usability and positive user experience vitally influences your SERP positions. Putting in simple words, we can say that though indirect yet there exist a correlation between bounce rates your site rankings. Hence by improving elements of your site which allows visitor to stay longer on your site and visit more number of pages, you can easily uplift your rankings. No doubt many a things are done for search engines as well, but ultimately they are also collecting data for understanding user behavior only. This means that those websites that meet the searchers expectations and satisfy their quest have a better chance to appear on the first page of SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).

After understanding both the components, we can easily make out the impact of UX to an effective SEO. In other words we can say that UX should not be a bye-product but it should be pertinent to SEO.

Benefits of collaborating UX and SEO.

1. More usable and reachable site. Make your site useful by reaching the real users. Align your SEO and UX teams and offer your users with quick, apt and relevant information.
2. Site decisions get real user data. When SEO experts are being accompanied by UX designers in making site decisions, the web experience being backed by real user data, will surely be awesome for your users.
3. Focus on SEO principles while designing. For a positive user experience you should create the content that is for both visitors as well as for the search engines. By maximizing H1 & H2 titles, optimizing menu names & functionalities and creating a clear navigation path will definitely lead to a better user experience and improved customer acquisition.
4. Better focus on quality. When your SEO & UX teams will collaborate, both will have a common focus to optimize your site not only for search engines but also for the real users. Hence your audience will experience better page speed, easy navigation, and relevant, descriptive and authentic content with a well-defined page layout and organised internal link structure.
5. Follow User Intent Strategy. Intent strategy means that your teams should get into the minds of your audience, unlock their intent by providing them relevant answers and anticipate their requirements. Focusing your efforts will not only prioritize your audience but will also help you accommodate them in their hour of need. This will help you win a happy audience and also drive relevant traffic with real impact and conversions.
6. Innovative & Creative Solutions. Sometimes an SEO obstacle can get a very creative solution from the collaborated team that makes the site design even better than the initial one. When there is sharing of knowledge, capabilities and goals amongst SEO and UX teams, the outcome is a beautifully designed site that performs as well.

Conclusion

A good marketing is always about being focussed on your customers. With the advancement in marketing profession, the jobs have also grown complex and profiles of UX and SEO experts are now blended. The need for blending has arisen to bridge the gap between the business and its customers. And those who understood their users’ intent, their requirements and who have focussed on data rather than on opinions have been able to grab user attention and retain them as their happy customers.