For quite some time, when we thought about SEO and search engine marketing, user experience, or UX wasn’t even on the list with what came to our top priorities. But as SEO evolves both as a field and a practice, it’s clear that many of the targets we aim for already revolve around the core idea of creating the best possible user experience. So while “UX” in itself isn’t a single definable metric, it’s a combination of many smaller metrics that create the bigger picture of user experience.
What is User Experience?
This might seem like a loaded question, because the field of UX is really quite wide, but the concept of user experience is simple and exactly what it sounds like. Google wants to keep their customers happy by pointing them to websites that are relevant and easy to use. Websites that provide a great experience have responsive layouts, plenty of accurate info, quick loading times, secure HTTPS, and no intrusive pop ups or spam-like messages.
How Does Google Measure UX?
If any of this is starting to sound more and more like the ranking factors you’ve come to know and love, you’re absolutely correct. Google has been focusing more on these metrics lately with their new Page Experience update. If you spend enough time on Google products, you’ll see that they’re giving you tips on how to improve your user experience all the time, from loading times on PageSpeed Insights, to mobile usability testing on Google Search Console. Google doesn’t try to keep this data secret, because they want you to improve the UX for your site.
How Can I Use User Experience to Improve SEO?
The trick is to not think about this process backwards. Rather than trying to hit all these metrics individually, when you build a website with the user in mind from start to finish, chances are you will have already hit most, if not all of these ranking factors already. The best part is that when you make the website all about the user, not only will your rankings improve, but you’ll also see a decrease in bounce rate, and an increase in conversions.
Contact Boston Web Marketing
If your website isn’t as user friendly as you’d like it to be, we are here to help! Boston Web Marketing can help you provide your customers with a great user experience. Give us a call at 857-526-0096 or contact us here.