SEO & UX - Content at the right time
It is still often underestimated, but it plays a significant role in search engine optimization: the user experience (UX). Google focuses on how user-friendly websites are designed with a specific ranking factor. Why SEO and UX go hand in hand in the long term, at the latest now, is what we would like to highlight in this article. Because the Google Core Web Vitals Update in May 2021 takes this topic under the microscope, among other things.
Employees develop wireframes for UX
Discussions about the relevance of user experience (UX) and search engine optimization (SEO) can be viewed like the chicken and egg dispute: No discipline without the other. In the intelligent combination of both disciplines, with a view to the needs of the user, lies the key to success. For many years, search engine optimization was synonymous with keywords in texts and technical SEO. User experience played a subordinate role. Nowadays, if users can easily find all the information they are looking for (and promised), they will stay longer - and more importantly, they will come back. Basically, the first encounter between prospective customer and website is not determined by purchase intensions. Rather, users are looking for a solution to a problem or have a need for information on specific topics. This requires a very precise knowledge of buyer personas and the customer journey.
Quality of the user experience as the measure of all things
The search engines evaluate websites beyond authority and relevance. Google in particular has already announced that it will pay more attention to the page experience. A successful SEO strategy must therefore take the user experience into account. Only with the right content is relevant traffic and conversion controllable. Target groups can be reached through SEO at different points in the customer journey. Search engine optimization ensures that users receive the best possible answer to their search query - and are directed to a domain. Only then does the work in terms of user experience take effect, in order to develop the visitor into a customer with the appropriate means.
Design and infographic for user experience
Search engine optimization - the basis of the user experience
In order to be found, a website must rank with the appropriate keyword in the results lists of the organic search. SEO measures and UX encompass even more: How does the company meet the search intentions of users in terms of purpose and its own values? This makes a precise knowledge of buyer personas and customer journey indispensable. These insights sharpen search engine optimization and UX - constantly and sustainably.
UX and SEO benefit from CRM systems in the long term. Here, information of all contact dates, but also diverse information on all website visitors is collected and evaluated. In this way, buyer persona descriptions can be refined on the basis of user data. Conversely, SEO and UX continuously ensure the further development of products and services in order to satisfy consumer needs. The potential of high-quality CRM systems thus goes far beyond the maintenance of existing customer relationships: You receive important indications of the points you should pay attention to when optimizing your website; for SEO and UX.
Search engines change algorithms regularly. This makes the adjustments in SEO for UX necessary. This makes it all the more important es to bundle the standing information - starting with the information assets from CRM systems. This allows the breakdown of user intent, to the data describing the quality of the user experience. For both SEO and UX, KPIs provide important insight. Only the joint action of both disciplines enables es to generate qualified traffic, increase conversions and turn them into lucrative leads.
SEO for UX - a sensible approach
Search engine algorithms identify search patterns. They are therefore constantly gathering information with the aim of gaining an ever better understanding of user behavior - and continuously optimizing this process. After all, es is all about providing searchers with the best possible results so that a commercially oriented company can hold its own against the competition. It follows that the websites that serve the relevant search queries better. This is rewarded by the search engines with a good ranking. And here the search engines evaluate more than 200 factors to assess the relevance of the page in relation to the respective search query.
For example, if a user quickly returns to the results list from a recommended web page, the bounce rate increases and suggests that the user is dissatisfied. SEO specialists must now determine why users exhibit such behavior - and this is where SEO and UX must work together effectively. Equally important for optimization is the selection of keywords used in search queries. In this context, however, it is not the keywords with the best search volumes that are decisive, but the appropriate ones. The trend in search queries is clearly moving towards long-tail search phrases. One of the reasons for this is voice search in mobile devices. CRM systems are a real treasure trove in this area as well: From the behavior of website visitors and customers, it is derived which problems they want to solve with the help of a company - and what and why potential customers are searching for because of this. In short: the company must also offer content for problem solving, detached from the services and products.
Medal with two sides - UX important for SEO
The data generated by SEO is suitable for identifying user trends. However, it cannot be used to identify specific user problems on a fundamental level. This is where the user experience comes into play: the better it is, the longer visitors will stay on a website and the more likely they are to visit it again. But the importance of a perfect user experience is much more complex: the search engine ranking is in turn influenced by how positive or negative the user experience was - always from the perspective of whether the information need was met. In summary, the be-all and end-all of optimal SEO and UX optimization is knowledge of buyer personas, customer journey and USP of the domain.
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