Why User Experience (UX) is important for SEO
These days it is important to optimize a website to acquire leverage in rankings and simultaneously getting more traffic.
There are a variety of SEO practices performed by professionals to make particular websites stand out. They tend to target specific niche centric keywords to retain their presence in search engine results.
The user experience is vital along with the best SEO practices. A website that doesn’t look attractive and is loaded with unnecessary content and features might not get in the spotlight. Also, people don’t like to stay on a page with an unattractive layout.
Search engines want to showcase the best information to users. A website that provides smooth navigation and relevant content and is loaded with high-end functionalities will get leverage on others that aren’t user-friendly. The interaction of users with your website is meant to be enjoyable. There should not be integrated pop-ups or ads that get in the way of good user experience.
Page speed
When the user reaches your website, he/she will then navigate to different sections of the website to acquire the information he needs or wants. If the content on the website takes a long time to load, the user might get frustrated and leave. Page speed is considered an important SEO factor in search engine rankings as well.
Try optimizing the content on your pages to make those pages run smoother.
Content optimization
After waiting for the page contents to load, the next thing visitors will look at is the information present on the web pages. The content should be informative and interesting. It should resonate with the keywords you have integrated within and also match with the subject your website is based on. The content should not be tangled within the other web elements and hard to read — and this includes making sure you stick with one easy-to-read font.
The textual content should be properly structured and should be appealing so the visitors keep retaining interest and want to explore more. Ensure they are getting the answers to the questions they have intended to search for.
The more optimized your website content will be, the more it facilities the users in finding the right information on your website.
Navigation
Search engines tend to rank not only your Home page –in fact, the majority of your web pages could be present in search engine results, depending on your keywords. So make sure you have made it easy for your visitors to navigate to different sections of the website as smoothly as possible. Your job is always to ensure that they have an excellent user experience and a chance to move from one page to another (another big factor for a seamless user experience).
Always make sure that links to the other pages are prominent and are located in vital areas where the users tend to put more focus. Links to the most important pages should be present in the header of the website. Those links allow visitors to quickly navigate without having to scroll through the page.
The integration of a search box could be of great assistance to visitors as well.
Call to action
The call-to-action buttons are one of the most important web elements for a website. Make sure these buttons are integrated into the right places, where there are more chances of them being clicked. These elements are essential to lead users to the productive sections of a website, which would ultimately result in conversions.
Not all call-to-action buttons are meant to bring conversions. Many of them are placed there to keep visitors engaged and invite them to explore other information on the website. Professional SEO specialists try to convince users to click on call-to-action buttons through a well-written headline.
Final Words
A visually appealing website that is loaded with valuable content and offers smooth navigation to the various sections of the website is highly favored by search engine bots. Plus, users will keep on visiting your website again and again, which could result in a substantial increase in sales and conversions.
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**About the Author: Asad Ali is a digital marketing expert with extensive experience in search engine optimization, conversion optimization, and user experience. He is currently working at GoGulf, a custom web design and SEO Doha firm with years of experience and a team of qualified professionals.
