Since the dawn of the digital era, many answers to the enigmas of the Web have been found, and its myths have been busted. So it is no wonder that a simple question like ‘’ Can User Experience (UX) actually hurt SEO?” is now considered as a rhetorical one. Unfortunately, the fact remains that a poorly done user experience design does impact the search engine optimization. That’s why the two have a hard time collaborating, but it’s not impossible for them to coexist. If you’re still encountering this issue, all the more reason for you to read this and get a better insight on how to resolve it.
“It’s art if can’t be explained. It’s fashion if no one asks for an explanation. It’s design if it doesn’t need explanation.” –Wouter Stokkel
Measure User Experience to locate the problem
Check the user experience regarding the bounce rate, session duration and the number of return visitors. The bounce rate will confirm if somebody visits the site but doesn’t interact. If the bounce rate is high, try keeping the visitors by using some interaction elements, e.g., a roll-over animation or check the load speed of the page . The session duration shows the time they spend on a website while reading the content. The number of return visitors helps you see why the visitors are coming back. By measuring these aspects of UX, you may find the reasons why your site is not getting a better conversion rate.
Header tags mix-ups
As we know, SEO specialists and UX designers both use the H1 tag, but for different purposes. While the first group uses it as to create a page, subheading and heading, the UX designers often focus on the H1 tag as to put it in the right size or style. This creates a problem, especially when too many H1 tags are used. It’s advisable to use only one H1 tag on a page, but you can put many H2 tags on the other parts of the page.
Many images-too much trouble
Especially nowadays, websites aim to attract many visitors with high-quality photos and images. However, this usually makes a quite the opposite effect because the images take some time to load. Until they are done, you visitor has already left the building, and he is looking at another site. Therefore, fix this by giving a descriptive name of the file which search engines will track down quickly. Another problem occurs when the text is minimali zed, so try adding alt tags in case your site has too many images of the products on sale.
Never ignore the King
A wise man once said: ‘’Content is King’’. The information that is presented on the site counts the most. It is the way you choose to present your services to the customer, to the world. Striving to get great UX without SEO is practically impossible. Not only does the UX hurt SEO, but it can hurt itself, too. As to avoid this fatal scenario, the best would be to seek advice from the SEO experts like ReportGarden, GWM, and more who can help you increase online exposure and traffic. As a result, new better content will attract more visitors than any other visual design ever could.
“Content that creates happy searchers will be content that makes Google look smart for finding it.” –Sonia Simone
Less always beats more
One of the common mistakes is to saturate the visitors with more sharing buttons on a website or a blog. The sharing buttons such as like or follow on Facebook, on Pinterest and others can be practical, but most of the time the consumers feel overcome by all these choices. As a result, the visitor usually gives into the wrong choice. So, before you decide to add many share buttons, think about which social network suits your guests the most and only stick to a couple of them. The same goes with registration steps. Try breaking it into numerous small steps that won’t overload the visitor. Using auto filling snippets is a good option, too.
Tricky filters
When dealing with e-commerce, it often happens that there are too many items on one page. A smart solution to help the visitors is naturally to introduce filters. The faceted navigation, e.g., by price is indeed helpful, but not user-friendly. In other words, the problem occurs when different variations of URL create a duplicative content. In the end, SEOs have to deal with this issue. So, in the early stages of the site’s development, it is necessary for UX designers and developers to consider this as to avoid such a tricky problem.
Get the most out of User Experience and SEO
In this day and age, the right information is just a click away. The visitors will always find a way to the best content. Or better to say scroll their way to it. However, the poor UX does hurt SEO. Even with the best content, UX does have adverse effects on driving more traffic. Therefore, remember to test UX and use marketing tools like Google Analytics to measure your website’s progress. As a result, it will provide you with a better insight on how to make the most out of both.
