UX Design Best Practices for Improving SEO Rankings

User Experience (UX) is vital for a successful SEO strategy. Yet all too many design teams remain unaware of this fact. This is not an inconsequential mistake. Failing to unite UX with SEO will cost your business engagement and rankings.

More than ever, algorithms are prioritizing user experience. It’s important to keep up with ranking signals. Put in place measures to influence rankings in your favor. That means optimizing your reputability with responsive designs and enhanced experiences.

On the plus side, this means SEO is not your only tool for driving traffic. When you start to see UX design as part of your SEO strategy, the possibilities are endless. It’s time for UX and SEO to join forces. But what practical measures can we put in place to improve SEO ratings with UX design?

Unite your SEO & UX teams

Generating conversions requires the use of UX and SEO together. Either one in isolation is not enough. Keywords alone will no longer cut it. Google’s algorithm considers around 200 different factors before ranking a website.

To achieve a unified UX and SEO strategy, it’s important to unite your teams. Get designers and content marketers talking and sharing ideas. If there is a lack of communication between these vital pillars, rankings will suffer.

There’s never been a better time to foster interdepartmental dialogue. Introduce suitable team management software to keep on top of everyone’s progress. Keep up a constant dialogue between the SEO specialists and content designers. These two essential marketing features should start to inform each other.

This doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Some easy methods for improved communication include:

• Storing assets in the cloud to make them accessible to everyone.
• Keep important data and strategy insights available at all times.
• Introduce remote team meetings regularly.

SEO and UX both aim to augment user and search-engine compatibility. To achieve this common goal they have to work together. Google’s ultimate aim is to direct searchers towards optimal experiences. Websites that meet their users’ needs rank higher as a result.

Speed things up for a better user experience and improved SEO

Users expect information pronto. A good user experience allows searchers to get the information they want as fast as possible. The best way to achieve this is to reduce site load time and page speed. This will mitigate bounce and increase customer satisfaction.

UX design can have a major impact on loading speeds. Some simple steps to keep things moving include:

• Removing unnecessary imagery and compressing larger images
• Ensuring less important web content doesn’t slow down site speed
• Using an efficient server and hosting plan
• Streamlining your code
• Subjecting your site to regular efficiency testing

You might also consider introducing software-defined networking technology. SDN deployment facilitates improved network performance and analysis. Managing your network with SDN technology centralises data and boosts network speeds.

Develop your UX designs with prototyping until you hit gold. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in the process. This is part of the trial-and-error process. Test out different designs and functionalities and get user feedback. The best way to know if something works is to try it out.

Aim for a customer-focused experience that optimizes interaction at every stage. You’re aiming to get searchers to come to you. To achieve this, remember to keep search intents and UX at the center of everything you do.

Wave bounce goodbye

UX design is a great way to reduce bounce. Bounce rates measure the number of searchers who, after opening your site, ‘bounce’ back to Google. This is a reliable indicator of SEO performance. A high bounce rate suggests your SEO strategy needs some work, and UX design is a great place to start.

An appealing design will hold your searchers’ attention. 53% of searchers won’t wait longer than three seconds for a page to load. To keep them on your site have a clear header that matches your SEO title.

Benchmark bounce rates by website type

Another way to keep bounce rates low is to incorporate a strong call-to-action (CTA). Make sure your CTA is identifiable and clickable. A good CTA will encourage continued engagement from your users. Direct them to interactive content to keep them on your site as long as possible.

Try directing readers to downloads, newsletters, and feedback forms. These will help you understand their needs. It's valuable information straight from the source. You can then apply these insights to future UX design improvements.

Once you’ve collected some basic demographic data, add it to your customer database. Input this data into your email campaign software. This is a simple way to gain valuable subscribers and maximize engagement.

By ensuring users enjoy their search experience, you’ll increase the time they spend on site. This will counteract bounce whilst improving your site's credibility and search ranking.

Responsive web design will help both your UX & SEO

Don’t lose customers over minor inconveniences.

Many businesses still miss out on conversions because of poor design thinking. But this need not be the case. Simple design changes have the power to improve user experience dramatically.

Make sure that your site is available across all platforms and interfaces. Remember, that includes mobile devices. It's especially important to provide quality mobile functionality. Offering full functionality on the small screen is a baseline customer expectation. To maintain credibility, this is an absolute must.

Responsive design has never been more important. Google now prioritizes mobile sites for its indexing. Keep design consistent across both interfaces. You’ll make your users (and those pesky algorithms) jump for joy.

Responsive web design is all about visuals and functionality. Google will penalize you for duplicate content so avoid it at all costs.

Ensure that your Alt texts are descriptive but concise. About 125 characters should suffice. Alt texts are written descriptions of the images on your webpage. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of their importance and multifunctionality.

Alt texts appear when an image fails to load on your webpage. But they also serve other important purposes. They describe images to visually-impaired users and help search-engines crawl through and rank your website.

Try incorporating new communication features to hook in interested searchers. A CPaaS (CPaas meaning Communications Platform as a Service) is a cloud-based communications platform. It allows users to interact with the service provider and ask questions. The more information the customer can get, the more likely they are to buy.

By incorporating efficient communications technologies within your website, you’ll improve return rates and prevent bounce. Aim for quality content with functional design. UX is essential for retaining customers. Don’t let something simple cost you your well-earned cash.

Single out simplicity

Simplicity is an asset when it comes to boosting SEO. Simple UX design should be organic and intuitive. That means a clear homepage that is easy to navigate. A straightforward site architecture helps Google index your pages. Simple design features are also preferred by users. It’s a win win.

Keep this in mind and focus on quality over flashy graphics. Carry out usability testing as often as possible. This will help you see what works and what doesn't.

The main things to think about when creating your site architecture are:

• Page layout 
  Navigation bars and drop-downs that are user friendly and help Google index.
• Relevance
  Make it easy for searchers to find what they’re looking for. Avoid making readers wade through unnecessary content.
• Originality
  Be different and be better than your competitors. Make sure your site offers the best information and site functionality.
• Links
  Incorporating links will boost SEO and increase traffic to your site. Integrate links into the user experience to promote engagement.
• Speed
  Keeping things simple means keeping things fast. To maintain a great UX, time is always of the essence.

Here's an example.

Imagine you’re a company that sells business VoIP technology. Your site is fast, navigates well, and has plenty of backlinks. But still, your rankings are lower than expected. Why is that?

Now would be the time to think about relevance.

Make sure searchers find what they’re looking for in the first few seconds after clicking on your site. Ensure quality content. Reassure them that they've come to the right place. Explain why internet calling for business is the solution for them.

By maintaining these key design features, your site will encourage end user engagement. It will also support search-engine algorithms. This is better for google, better for searchers, and better for you.

A marriage made in eCommerce

Follow these top tips to make your business stand out on search-engine leaderboards.

UX is essential to support SEO best practices. It’s time for content marketers to team up with designers. It’s time to make this standard practice moving forward.

A cohesive strategy that prioritizes speed, simplicity, and usability is setting the bar. Ecommerce website designs must mobilize superior UX design to succeed. The possibilities are endless.