[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]<\/p>\n Take our Professional Diploma in UX Design course<\/span>\n <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n UX stands for \u2018user experience\u2019<\/a>. It describes the quality of the experience a person has with a product or service. Good user experiences enable you to accomplish your goals and tasks easily, with minimal friction or confusion \u2014 and they\u2019re deliberately designed that way by UX professionals.<\/p>\n Consider the task of booking cinema tickets. You might type the name of your local cinema into Google, find and click on the cinema website, then use the search function to see what films are showing. Once you find a film that takes your fancy, you go through the checkout process to purchase your tickets. When your purchase is complete, you receive an email with your tickets. All the different steps in that process make up the user experience.<\/p>\n If the process is quick, clear and easy to navigate, with a logical path from A to B, you\u2019ll have a good user experience. If it\u2019s plagued with errors, missing information, slow load times or unnecessarily complex hurdles, you\u2019ll have a bad user experience.<\/p>\n What elements and factors does UX consider?<\/strong><\/p>\n There are lots of different factors that make up a user experience. When designing digital products (like websites and apps), UX designers will consider how to structure the product for optimal usability.<\/p>\n In doing so, they will ask questions such as:<\/p>\n Ultimately, UX designers create solutions to specific user problems. Their goal is to design products that make the user\u2019s journey towards the solution as smooth and accessible as possible.<\/p>\n You can learn more about the five main elements of UX design here<\/a> or take a look at the process UX designers follow<\/a> to create awesome products.<\/p>\n Why is UX important? We\u2019ve written in detail about the value of UX in this post<\/a> but to pull out some of the most compelling statistics: businesses who improve the UX design of their website can achieve conversion rates as high as 400%, while 66% of customers are willing to pay more for a great user experience.<\/p>\n At the end of the day, good user experiences make for happy customers who continue to favour a particular brand over its competitors. Those happy, loyal customers bring in revenue and keep the brand going. A product or service is only as good as the user experience it provides, so UX must be a top (if not the top) priority.<\/p>\n That\u2019s UX in a nutshell. Now what about SEO?<\/p>\n SEO stands for \u2018search engine optimisation\u2019. It\u2019s both a marketing and a technical discipline which seeks to drive organic (free) traffic to a website and improve its position in the search results.<\/p>\n Consider what happens when you search for something in Google. You type your query into the search field and Google shows you a list of websites that it identifies as relevant to what you\u2019re looking for. Not only that: it ranks them in order of relevance and quality, with the best results at the top.<\/p>\n At the very top, you might see a few results with \u2018Ad\u2019 next to them. Those websites have paid to have that position. The results that appear underneath those, however, have ranked organically\u2014not by directly paying, but rather, as a result of their search engine optimisation efforts.<\/p>\n What elements and factors does SEO consider?<\/strong><\/p>\n Search engine optimisation is an ongoing endeavour which incorporates a broad range of different factors. There is no one single checkbox for \u2018good\u2019 SEO; it\u2019s about covering all bases and keeping up to date with how the search engine algorithms change.<\/p>\n Ahrefs<\/a> (one of the most popular SEO tools) outlines five key steps that make up a solid SEO strategy:<\/p>\n Ultimately, Google wants to provide people with the most useful, credible results whenever they search for something. SEO is about adhering to certain best practices in order to ensure that your website is shown to the right users and, ideally, somewhere near the top of the search results.<\/p>\n Why is SEO important? While other marketing techniques involve you reaching out to prospective customers, SEO brings prospective customers to you. The better your website is optimised for search engines, the more likely it is that you\u2019ll appear on the first page of the search results. The people who then click on your website are already interested in what you\u2019re offering \u2014 they\u2019ve actively searched for it on Google.<\/p>\n If they like what they find once they land on your website, they are more likely to return, share your content and potentially make a purchase. As such, SEO is crucial if you want to grow your brand and convert readers and visitors into customers.<\/p>\n Now we know what SEO is and why it matters, let\u2019s consider how UX and SEO go hand in hand.<\/p>\n [GET CERTIFIED IN USER RESEARCH]<\/p>\n Take our Professional Certificate in User Research<\/span>\n <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n Both SEO and UX have the goal of creating accessible, user-friendly websites that give people what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n When assessing a website\u2019s credibility, search engine algorithms don\u2019t only consider technical factors. They also look at how users interact with the website in order to get a read on the kind of user experience it provides. If the algorithms notice that, after landing on a particular website, users tend to leave within a few seconds, that website will very quickly lose favour. It\u2019ll slip down the rankings to make space for competitors who appear to be providing a better experience.<\/p>\n Think about how often you\u2019ve searched for something on Google and clicked on the first or second result, only to decide within seconds that, actually, the content you\u2019ve been shown isn\u2019t relevant. Or, maybe the content is relevant but you\u2019re put off by the constant barrage of pop-ups that take over your screen. And what about those times you access a website on your phone and find that the layout is all over the place or that the page doesn\u2019t even load?<\/p>\n All of these scenarios will have you hitting the \u2018back\u2019 button quicker than you can say \u2018bad UX\u2019. And all of these scenarios are damaging for the website\u2019s SEO ranking.<\/p>\n If you want to maintain a good ranking in the search results, you need to keep visitors on your website. And, if you want to keep visitors on your website, you need to provide a good user experience.<\/p>\n With that in mind, here are some of the main UX factors that will impact a website\u2019s search engine ranking.<\/p>\n Many factors that ensure a good user experience will also positively impact your website\u2019s SEO. Here are five aspects of your website design to focus on if you want to win at both UX and SEO.<\/p>\n 1. Page speed<\/strong> So what can you do to speed up your website? There are several best practices you can follow. Some are design-related, like lazy loading<\/a> \u2014a design pattern which delays the rendering of certain objects until they\u2019re absolutely necessary (for example, only loading below-the-fold images when a user starts to scroll). Others are more technical and may require the help of a developer, such as optimising images and minifying CSS, JavaScript and HTML code.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find more tips on how to improve page load speed in this guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2. Responsive design<\/strong> Given that over 60% of website traffic<\/a> comes from mobile devices, responsive design should be a priority when creating and optimising your website. If you\u2019re new to the concept, follow these responsive design best practices and examples<\/a>.<\/p>\n 3. Website copy<\/strong> Copy is one of the most powerful tools when it comes to guiding the user around your website and directing them to the information they\u2019re looking for. Website copy is like the road signs that guide drivers; it points your users in the right direction without requiring them to search too hard or think too much.<\/p>\n The better your website copy is, the easier it will be for users to find what they\u2019re looking for \u2014 and the longer they\u2019ll stay on your site. That\u2019s a big win for SEO.<\/p>\n Learn how to write useful website copy in this beginner\u2019s guide to UX writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4. Navigation and layout<\/strong> The structure of your site serves two purposes: on the UX side, it should provide a clear, logical path for your users to follow as they move around your website. On the SEO side, it provides a roadmap for search engines, giving an overview of all the content on your site and how it\u2019s linked together.<\/p>\n When it comes to website structure and navigation, prioritise the user. Err on the side of simplicity and clarity, creating pathways that are easy for a human user to follow and navigate. The same applies to the layout of individual pages. Order your content logically and clearly with menus, headers and CTAs.<\/p>\n If users can navigate your website with ease, you\u2019re not only ticking the usability checkbox. You\u2019ll also benefit from an SEO boost, too.<\/p>\n 5. UI design<\/strong> Of course, Google doesn\u2019t assess a website\u2019s visual appeal \u2014 but human users do and they do so very quickly. If your website is a horror to behold, many users won\u2019t stick around to find out what\u2019s beneath the surface. They\u2019ll click out in search of a more aesthetically pleasing website. For Google, this translates to a high bounce rate, which will inevitably affect your ranking.<\/p>\n User interface (UI) design<\/a> isn\u2019t just about making sure your website looks good. All the principles and guidelines of UI<\/a> are geared towards providing a consistent brand experience and facilitating the user journey that the UX designer has laid out. Indeed, while UX and UI are two different things<\/a>, they go firmly hand-in-hand, and you can\u2019t have one without the other.<\/p>\nWhat is UX and why does it matter?<\/h2>\n
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\nIt\u2019s impossible to overstate the importance of UX. The difference between good and bad UX<\/a> ultimately means the difference between a successful product and a failing one.<\/p>\nWhat is SEO and why does it matter?<\/h2>\n
![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-04-at-12.45.15.png\" "\\"\\"")
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\nSEO is critical because it makes your website and content visible to the right people.<\/p>\nHow are UX and SEO related?<\/h2>\n
5 UX factors that will impact SEO: 5 user experience factors you can optimise to improve your website\u2019s ranking<\/h2>\n
\nWebsites that take an age to load are terrible for the user experience and detrimental to SEO. Page speed is a proven ranking factor for Google and you don\u2019t need to be a UX expert to know that slow-loading pages are incredibly frustrating from a user perspective.<\/p>\n
\nPeople expect a smooth experience, no matter what device they\u2019re using to access your website. Responsive design might not be a confirmed ranking factor but it\u2019s explicitly recommended by Google \u2014 and, of course, it keeps the UX positive and consistent across all devices.<\/p>\n
\nGoogle wants to know that when it sends people to your website, they are able to find the information they are searching for. Among other things, it\u2019ll look at how long they spend on your website (or how quickly they bounce). A major pillar of user experience which will influence how long a user stays on your site\u2014 and, therefore, your website\u2019s SEO \u2014is copy.<\/p>\n
\nIn a similar vein, your website\u2019s overall navigation and layout should be designed in a way that makes it as easy as possible for the user to find their way around.<\/p>\n
\nLast but not least, make sure your website\u2019s UI design is set to make a good impression.<\/p>\n