SEO and user experience (UX) are key elements of modern digital marketing strategies. While SEO focuses on increasing the visibility of her website in search engine results, UX aims to optimize the overall experience of users visiting the site.
At first glance, these two objectives may seem contradictory. However, the line between SEO and UX is becoming blurred as search engines like Google continue to prioritize user satisfaction.
This article explores the paradox of SEO-UX and how businesses can achieve visibility and user delight through a holistic approach that aligns with search engine algorithms and human needs.
Invest in UX and SEO
According to a report from Forrester, every dollar invested in UX yields a return of $100. There are various reports on SEO benefits ranging from $3 to $5 for every $1 spent.
Naturally, the impact on UX is much greater as it focuses on optimizing the experience for better results. Still, without SEO, your website could miss out on the traffic it needs to convert. Therefore, it is important to focus on both SEO and UX in your digital marketing strategy.
In recent years, Google has greatly simplified the task of SEO by focusing on UX through EEAT and Core Web Vitals. Both efforts focus on user experience, and while it is not a critical component of the algorithm, it is still a factor to consider.
Why you should focus on delighting your users
Satisfying users should be the central focus of every website. Delighting your users creates a very powerful opportunity for them to buy from your business, continue to interact with you, and advocate for your business.
From a psychology perspective, there is a cognitive bias known as the “peak-end rule.” The peak-end law refers to the fact that, as humans, we are much more likely to remember the (emotionally) peak of an experience and its end.
Whether it's a frustrating or disappointing experience such as:
Or a really great, happy experience like:
Many purchases include a digital component or are completed online only. So if your website is hard for users to find what they're looking for, or if your site doesn't work well with the device they're using, you might be creating the wrong type of memory that's difficult to erase. there is.
With this in mind, knowing that our lasting impressions can be influenced by our emotional highs, we create journeys that bring joy to our viewers and bring them joy at the end. must be designed.
Learn more: 4 SEO tips to improve your user experience
What can SEO do to ensure your audience is satisfied?
As an SEO, your goal is to optimize your website to meet users' needs when searching online. To achieve this, it is important to understand user intent. Simply facilitating traffic is not enough. You need to provide value that aligns with what the user is searching for.
Putting your own agenda ahead of your users' needs can lead to user dissatisfaction and damage your brand's reputation. Instead, focus on giving your users what they want and building a positive relationship with your audience.
The connection between meeting user needs and tasks is clear. Even better, there's a strong match between what search engines prioritize and what you should focus on.
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8 tips for joy and optimization at the same time
1. Align user intent and measure success based on what users are trying to do.
If you can match a user's search query with the intent of your landing page, you can satisfy them. Sometimes your response may not be what the user wants, but that's okay as long as you're honest, transparent, and offer a path forward.
Make sure you have clear success criteria that match what your users are trying to achieve. This helps you understand the leading indicators of success because the more positive actions you can measure before a sale/inquiry, the more predictable your sales will be.
Alignment of intent must incorporate demonstrative experience. All content must be a story. The most effective way to promote your information, products, and services is through stories. You need to highlight your brand's expertise in your field and make it clear to the user and her Google that you are relevant to the search.
Learn more: How to optimize for search intent: 19 practical tips
2. Demonstrate expertise in what you do or sell
While you may be able to rank your website by matching your search terms and intent within your content, that alone is not always enough. Users should make sure that your girlfriend website is run by an expert in the field, as there are plenty of options and it's easy to press “back” and look for another girlfriend website.
Humans have an innate fear of messing things up. It goes back to our need for survival. So they should make sure they are considering working with or buying from a professional.
This is fully consistent with Google's EEAT rating criteria. Users and Google want to know what gives your website the credibility to answer their questions, and what credentials, history, and case studies you share to prove your expertise in your field. I would like to.
3. Build authority in relevant communities
Links have long been a powerful way to demonstrate authority to Google, but a good link building strategy also requires a foundation for demonstrating authority to your audience. In my opinion, building links to websites that your audience doesn't visit often is as beneficial as putting a billboard on a deserted street.
Your link building strategy should be aimed at building authority in your audience and the community related to your product or service. This increases your value by letting Google know that you are an authority and helps attract relevant users to your website.
When users go to a search engine to ask a question, they don't necessarily want to visit a brand's website. You may also be looking for content hosted on media sites, third-party blogs, etc.
The same goes for Google if every site your users visit references your brand in some way, which is a very strong signal to Google that your website is an authority on the topic.
Learn more: Modern link building starter guide
4. Become a trusted resource
Anyone can publish anything on the web, sometimes with harmful intent. Every week there are stories of people losing money, being fooled by misinformation, or being scammed. This has made users more cautious and skeptical, especially towards new brands. Even Google is cautious and looks for trustworthiness signals from websites.
All three points above are helpful from a reliability perspective. If implemented correctly, users (and Google) will know that you are experienced in what you are doing, have relevant experience and qualifications (if required), and that other relevant and authoritative sources You will be able to confirm that they are happy to help you.
Trust is also built by ensuring that content is kept up to date and that there are clear sources to back up claims when necessary. An example of what concerns me are websites that still refer to COVID-19 measures that are supposed to be related to the lockdown. This is a clear indication that the website content has not been reviewed for a long time.
Include reviews from third-party providers and transparent links to contact information, policies, and “About Us” information. Having a human author on your website builds trust with your audience.
The key theme is reliability. Checking a box is not enough. It has to be authentic, align with your company's vision, and resonate with your audience.
5. Map user sentiment throughout the purchase process
As demonstrated by the “peak-end rule,” understanding the emotional flow of users through your website is critical to creating a positive experience.
Your website may seem intuitive to you, but not necessarily to your target audience, so exploring different user scenarios can reveal important insights that aren't obvious to your team.
This process can be done in multiple ways, including using eye tracking and facial analysis as users move online, and by collecting qualitative and quantitative data through surveys conducted by our behavioral team.
It is important to involve a variety of audiences in these studies. For example, if your target audience spans different age groups, focusing only on Gen Z won't give you any insight into how it affects older generations such as boomers.
Eye tracking and facial analysis in particular often match some of the Google Core Web Vital scores. For example, website speed and page loading are a pain point for many people. Pages load gradually, and those frustrating moments when you click on the wrong item are extremely frustrating for humans as well as Google.
The answers to some of the questions this study raises may relate to the technical health of websites, but they may also point back to behavioral science. Once you've identified a customer who's anxious, you may not be able to change why, but you can alleviate their concerns with better navigation and clearer content.
Dig deeper: 5 behavioral strategies to make your content more engaging
6. Leverage content layout and structured data
Since Google's inception, title tags have played an important role in organizing content. They help search engines and users by helping them quickly scan and find relevant information on a page.
Incorporating page layout and titles while understanding user intent creates more valuable content. This simplifies information consumption, improves the user experience, and helps Google's crawlers better understand and index your content.
You can take this even further by incorporating structured data, which helps Google understand the context of your content. This will improve your rankings, give you a chance to get featured snippets, and is great from a UX perspective.
7. Optimize visual, audio, and video content
Websites now offer more diverse content, benefiting users with different tastes and needs. However, from an SEO perspective, it's important to maintain a balance. For example, a video alone without content is of no use to Google.
To enhance accessibility and meet Google's requirements, it's important to prioritize user experience while also providing transcripts for videos, audio such as podcasts, and alternative text for images.
8. Accessibility that delights users
Prioritizing accessibility makes your website more acceptable to everyone, which benefits both users and search engines. The upcoming European Accessibility Act 2025 will make accessibility a legal requirement for many websites. However, there are broader benefits beyond legal compliance.
Improving accessibility expands your audience and allows you to reach people who previously had trouble accessing your content. These enhancements make it easier for search engines to navigate and understand his website, similar to how screen readers work.
Humans and search engines are working together more than ever
Humans and search engines are becoming more closely aligned in their website preferences. This trend is likely to continue as search engines rely on human satisfaction. When a search engine prioritizes the wrong website, it reduces trust and leads to lost users and revenue.
The lesson here for SEO teams is to work closely with your UX colleagues, and if you don't have someone in that role, take the time to start learning about this yourself.
Traffic alone is a valuable metric. The business value lies in ensuring that traffic takes the right actions to drive revenue and growth. This is achieved through great UX and continuous investment in improving the website experience. Google will thank you as well.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.