Sometimes in our quest to get SEO perfect, we forget why we’re doing it – for the user. Everything you do should put your audience first. Thankfully, creating an amazing user experience is also great for search engine optimization (SEO).
Here are some ways you can improve your site visitors experience while also improving your SEO.
• Users First – Search engines are important, but users are everything. Users are your audience, the people you’re trying to help, and your bread and butter. Therefore, if any part of SEO seems wrong for your audience and you think it would bother them, don’t do it. But, test it out first to see what happens. You can always change things.
• Make It Responsive – We can’t repeat this enough, but all websites need to be responsive today. One reason is that search engines prioritize these types of sites. The other reason is that users are more likely to use a mobile device to read the emails you send, which means they’re more likely to click through to your site via email on a mobile device.
• Keep It Clear – You want the information on your website to be crystal clear. When someone comes to your site there should be no mistake about the point of your site, the reason you’re there, and what you offer. The best thing to do is to fill your site with content that speaks directly to your users.
• Content Is King – From your home page to your about page and the blog, the content on your website is extremely important. You need to publish relevant, targeted, customer-centric content on a regular basis. It’s this content that will enhance the SEO the most.
• Include a CTA – If you want content to do anything but entertain, you’ll need to always include a call to action (CTA). Some form of CTA should be on every page of your website. Whether it’s “Share”, “Sign up”, “Buy” or something else, tell your audience what to do next based on the page they’re on.
• Rid Your Site of Clutter – You’ve probably accidentally clicked on a link that looked like a wonderful article full of great information, only to go to a website that’s flashing and cluttered with ads and links so badly that you couldn’t enjoy the content at all. This harms your SEO and harms your users’ experience.
• Increase Trust – Using your website, social media, and other content, it’s imperative to build trust with your audience. The best way to do that is to ensure that the content you use is accurate. If your audience experiences inaccuracies and problems, they’ll lose trust.
• Benefits over Features – When you’re describing any products or services on your website, focus on what your audience/user wants to know. They do not care about you; they care about how it benefits them. Focus on that.
• Color Is More Important Than You Think – It’s tempting to design a website based on what you like. That can work if you’re an average member of your own audience but if you’re not, you really need to research your audience and understand something about color theory to get that part right.
• Use Images Thoughtfully – If you use images, you want to be sure that you don’t clutter the site with too many because it will slow down the site. Plus, as mentioned earlier, be sure to include the alt-tag information too. It helps search engines, but it can also help your audience if for some reason they can’t see the information.
• Test Everything – The most awesome aspect of anything online is that you can always change it. If you try something and your users hate it because you get emails or see bad comments online, you can fix it and let them know. They’ll appreciate it and you’ll be a hero.
When you focus on your users, you can’t go wrong. If the SEO you employed causes someone to click on a link and they don’t find what they expected to find (or something better), they’ll be disappointed and click away. When they bounce off your website, that is bad for SEO. Create value for your audience, and add the technical aspects of SEO, and then think about your audience as you create the content and information, they need to solve their problems.
