SEO and UX - Why Is User Experience So Important?

Do you remember who is on the other side? Do you remember the existence of your website's user - a visitor who doesn't know anything about your company yet and will only get to know you by browsing your website?

Imagine that after entering the website they are interested in your service, but they can't find your contact details - frustrated, they return to the search results and choose another company. Or maybe they are trying to make a purchase in your online store, but the checkout process is misleading?

That is why it is so important to properly design a website in the SEO process, especially if you don't care only about high rankings. Google is a search engine largely based on text, which is why so many specialists place particular emphasis on it. But are these texts always implemented in a way that is useful to the user?

User Experience - the totality of interactions

UX consists of all actions and interactions between the user and the company, the user and services, or the user and products. Because one of the first touchpoints between your potential customer and your company is your website, it should be designed as best as possible so that the experience is associated with positive emotions. UX studies what the user's needs and expectations are - and suggests how to create products and systems so that they comply with these guidelines.

SEO or UX? Which is more important? Or maybe hand in hand...

As an example, I will use the query results on google.pl for the phrase "hydraulik poznań" [plumber Poznan].

Top 1

First place is achieved by a page that has almost 35,000 characters of text on the homepage with practically only a single separator element. The fact is that this large amount of characters probably helped achieve the first position, but what does the conversion look like? How does a potential customer feel when visiting this page, where they will certainly be forced to scroll multiple times? The very extensive side navigation is also not easy to take in. It's a good thing the phone number was placed multiple times in more locations

Let's remember that Google's algorithms are constantly being improved in terms of the usefulness of the website for the user, which is why publishing content that repeats practically the same thing over and over may soon stop translating so well into the website's rankings for a given phrase.

Top 2

A definitely more user-friendly website, having ten times less content, but focusing on proper formatting and its usefulness to the potential customer. The navigation is also friendlier and more intuitive - it contains tabs key to the user.

Certainly, the first result gets more clicks than the second, but the question is, what does the conversion look like? Would you contact the owner of the first or the second website? Certainly, every user looking for a plumber will also want to check information about possible prices, the offer, and testimonials from other customers before making contact. On which site will that be easier?

Every second your visitor spends on the website matters greatly. If their experience is not positive, they will reject you and choose your competition. That is precisely why proper experience design, or UX, is so essential.

Conclusion - SEO and UX should go hand in hand. The days of "walls of text" may still work for now, but do they translate into what clients care about most, which is conversion?

How should it be?

Simple, effective, and logical! These three traits are the recipe for success for any website. It should be user-friendly, meaning it should answer their questions, present services or products clearly, and clearly map out the purchasing path or how to contact company representatives. However, this does not mean we have to guess the most logical solutions - UX is a set of certain general website design principles and a range of tools that allow us to measure our specific target audience individually and precisely. UX solutions can also be reconciled with elements required on a website during the SEO process to achieve high rankings for targeted phrases.

An analytical look at the project

How is usability tested? There are many tools, and it is worth mentioning:

• Google Analytics,
• surveys,
• eye-tracking, click maps,
• in-depth individual interviews,
• contextual inquiry,
• benchmarking and competitor analysis,
• user testing,
• problem-solving frameworks, e.g., Business Model Canvas, Customer Journey Map, Value Proposition.

But... why do we do this?

Why is studying user activity so important? Because it allows you to increase sales! If we present the customer with a website tailored to their needs, answering their questions, telling an interesting story about your company, and evoking positive emotions, it will turn out that they are more willing to use your offer. They will have no reason to leave for competitor sites. They will not want to abandon a positive experience. Remember, however, that to get sales, you first need to acquire a customer, and the cheapest and, in most cases, highest-converting source of traffic is organic traffic. Therefore, it is very important to consult your website project with an SEO specialist.

The joint work of a designer and an SEO specialist will bring a much better result in terms of both traffic and conversions through a well-designed website.