How UX Design Factors Impact SEO and Engagement Metrics

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How to Leverage UX Design Factors to Enhance SEO and Engagement Metrics

The entire World is currently shifting towards a complete digital transformation. This means that having a user-friendly and effective website design is essential. When developing a website, it is crucial to have a top-notch User Interface (UI) and SEO to keep customers engaged. SEO does not only help your website to get better rankings but also offers up-to-date and reliable information to ensure better engagement. Nowadays, algorithms of search engines can easily configure between a site filled with keyword stuffing and one that truly merges it effectively.

Back in the days when Search Engine optimization first gained popularity, it took the world by storm. Website optimizers identified that targeting a single keyword could help their website rank to stand out from the rest. But the constant evolution of Google Analytics and its algorithm has made SEO a small puzzle in the entire process.

Search engines now focus more on user metrics and SEO-friendly websites to analyze a page’s rank. This is where the demand for UX comes into value. Let’s get a clearer idea of the factors and the impact in detail.

What exactly is User Experience (UX)?

The main aim of User experience (UX) is to create a top-class user-centric website experience. This helps to analyze precisely how every user will interact with your website. User designs curated with proper analysis engage users by allowing them easy access to a website. A well-created UX positively impacts user engagement metrics to a considerable level.

Additionally, when you emphasize creating better UX designs, it indirectly helps improve website SEO ranking. The more you can make your user happy and content while browsing your website, the better the position and revenue you earn from it. The top factors of user experience are better explained in the below picture.


Source: UX design

What is the Direct link between Search Engine Optimization and User Experience?

Most users often need to know that both UX/UI are different and serve two distinct purposes. But the reality is that both of these work together to create an outstanding website design. UI usually focuses more on the feel and overall look of the website. UX, on the other hand, concentrates more on the interaction between the user and the website. Both these are vital to create a successful website page.

Now UX design often impacts the overall user experience of a website. The Google Algorithm picks the UX elements and tends to tie them to the overall ranking factor of a website. When this happens, the site’s architecture can effectively make or break the entire technicality of a place to a certain level.

Top User Engagement Metrics that affect SEO

The below-listed metrics provide Google with a definite analysis of how exactly your webpage will engage with your daily audience. It also analyzes how your exact website is relevant for search queries.

Bounce Rate

Do you ever cross-check how many users have left the website after viewing the first page? Well, this is measured by the bounce rate metrics. A higher bounce rate usually means users only checked the landing page. It happens when they suddenly lose interest in your website due to poor web design, slow page speed, and unnecessary content. It is always recommended to check the bounce rate to identify the ranking value of your create SEO-friendly web pages.

Page Dwell time

The next most essential metric is the dwell time, identifying how long users have spent on your website. Google determines a page’s positive or negative ranking based on the dwell time. The higher the dwell time, the better the impact; the lower resembles the negative value. Google measures the relevancy of the page and search query based on this.

Rates of Conversion

Having the best-in-class UI/UX designs also helps to impact and reinforce overall conversions. Designing websites strategically helps improve conversions with better sales, newsletters, and increased client value. This lets users quickly get exactly what they are looking for within seconds. Search engines usually consider conversions one of the top metrics for ranking websites.

Voice Search

The final one needed is a top-level UX/UI design that can help with your voice search. With each passing day, the dependency on voice search is increasing. Users like to get access to relevant websites which are also voice optimized. Thereby, when designing your website, be sure to keep this in mind.

UX Design Factors which Improve SEO

Let’s now analyze the top UX design elements which can help increase SEO ranking for website performance considerably.

Speed of page

One of the worst things users hate to experience is waiting for a web page to load. The higher the loading page, the more likely your users will leave your website. The faster your audiences leave your site, the higher the issue of bounce rates. Optimizing your web page in such a way that it loads within the shortest period is crucial. One best way to do this is by reducing as many server requests (HTTP) as possible.

Mobile-friendliness

A top staple in modern days is effective designs for mobile responsiveness. Most users in current times prefer to use mobile for browsing websites. This is why websites that need to be more responsive and mobile-friendly tend to lose a very high percentage of the audience. So, make it a priority to ensure that your website is mobile optimized to retain more users.
User-Friendly colors and fonts

Do you ever visit a website and instantly close it due to the inconsistent use of colors in it? If yes, you know how it affects your search results. This is the sole reason you need to keep a considerable analysis of the fonts and colors used in your website. Try to use colors that are user-friendly and easy to read, which also highlights the features. Also, stick to a simple color gradient that is softer for the eyes and visually appealing.

Clear and concise language

When developing a website, deciding upon its language is an essential factor. Using a language that is clear, transparent, and easy to understand is a must. Users tend to like readable websites with short sentences that are to the point. It will improve the overall readability and raise the ranks of the website. Search engines measure these tactics for better analysis of the websites by enhancing the website’s visibility.

Navigation and Layout

Next in line is the website’s layout and navigation that needs to be on the check. Optimizing your website navigation is necessary, so any user can directly access and use it. When utilizing these layouts, the website’s structure needs to be identified. The UX side should offer a logical path along with a clear understanding of moving around the website. SEO provides a specified roadmap to give an overview of the site with appropriate links.

Accessibility

The primary goal of every website is to ensure that it is easily accessible to everyone. And SEO design does have an essential role in affecting this accessibility to a certain extent. One of the main reasons the accessibility of a site decreases is due to the issues of missing alt text, empty links, and contrast text. However, with the help of combined help from SEO and UX design, this can be effectively curated. Some top positive impacts of SEO are :

Optimizing page titles with targeted keywords
Improving site maps for clear access to pages
Using relevant anchor text
Enhancing Alt text for better help search engine

UX + SEO = Higher Ranking

Several strategies directly contribute to both improvements in SEO and UX design. However, the only difference is that not all SEO strategies value UX development. An example is when you optimize the strategy of submitting a sitemap to Google console for crawling your website. It is a game changer for powerful SEO tactics but does not impact user experiences. When you focus more on UX, your focus will instantly shift from regularly pleasing search engines to humans. After all, it is your customers for whom you are optimizing your website rather than search engines. So, make a slight change, create SEO-friendly web pages for humans, and get past those search engines.


Source: goodfirms

Conclusion

When a proper website evaluation is done, Google analyzes more than just the technical factors. It correctly identifies the usage of human behavior, like typical time spent on it and interaction. These metrics are a strong indicator of the overall quality of any website. Ensuring that User experience (UX) is an integral part of any SEO-optimized strategy is essential. So, now you know how user experience affects SEO; if you are thinking of optimizing a website, ensure the above SEO-friendly website and UX factors are correctly used. Choose the right UX/UI design agency that suits all your needs and requirements over time.

Pratip Biswas
Pratip Biswas, is the Founder and CEO of Unified Infotech, a New York based tech-company which has been featured in Deloitte Fast 500| Fastest growing tech companies in 2018. His company is working with Enterprises, SMB’s and Start-ups to improve their efficiency through Digital Adoption and help them discover new possibilities through constant innovations.

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