How a Better User Experience (UX) improves SEO




The Goal
To learn about the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) as a UX (user experience) designer and how we can impact the search engine website ranking with good user design practices.

Role
SEO & UX Analyst
To learn about the importance of SEO as a UX designer and how we can impact the search engine website ranking with good user design practices.

If you are a UX designer, you must learn about how SEO (search engine optimization) works because they both go hand in hand and are critical for business success. UX and SEO share a common goal of converting all web traffic into revenue for a successful business.

To achieve this goal, users need to spend more time on the websites so,
  1. They can click on more ads.
  2. They can purchase more products.
  3. They can purchase or subscribe to services.

To retain a user on a website, first, SEO gets him into the website, then a good website user experience will retain him. UX designers often collaborate with SEO professionals to improve a website’s overall performance and ranking.

What is SEO?

When someone searches for something on a search engine like Google or Bing, the search engine shows the most relevant results. These relevant results are based on very complex algorithms like keywords, content, images, backlinks, the time a user spends on the website, etc. When webmasters work on their websites to increase their visibility on search engines, the process is called search engine optimization (SEO).

How UX design practices affect SEO

Everything you do as a UX designer directly affects the search engine rankings which makes everything in the design relevant for business success. Implement these best SEO Practices for UX design to boost your website’s SERP ranking,

Increase Page Speed

Page speed is simply how fast your content loads on a page. According to a survey, 47% of internet users expect a webpage to load in less than 2 seconds and 53% of users will leave a website if it loads in more than 3 seconds. Search engines evaluate page speed because there are more chances that a user will leave the webpage if it loads slowly. 44% of visitors will develop a negative image of companies with a slow-loading website, and increasing the website loading speed by a single second increases conversions by 27%.


Google Page Speed test results

Websites that load slowly cost retailers $2.6 billion in lost business which means having faster page speed is crucial for SEO and business success, but how is it relevant for the designers?

Many aspects that affect the page speed and are relevant to a UX designer are the elements on the page like graphics, icons, fonts, images, videos, etc. A designer decides how many graphics and icons are necessary for the design and branding of the website. Knowing how it will affect the page speed helps a designer make smart decisions about simpler and cleaner design that is both aesthetically pleasing and loads faster.

Most other aspects like CSS, plugins, clean code, how element loads of the website, etc. which affect the page speed are mainly relevant to the developers however learning about them will also help a UX designer with UX best practices.

52% of consumers base their business loyalty on page loading speed. You do not need flashy elements and videos to attract user attention, you can do it by carefully displaying flat icons, replacing videos with gifs, and using browser-friendly fonts, colors, etc.

Use Mobile-First Approach


The mobile-first approach means that the UX designers will design the website's mobile screens first and then rescale and adapt them to the tablet or desktop version. This approach is preferred in UX design because it is challenging to fit the important elements in smaller screen sizes and easier to scale them up to larger screen versions.

Mobile versions must have simple and clear content that is easily readable and call-to-action buttons must be easy to tap on. As per the statistics, 90% of buyers report that an excellent mobile experience will likely convince them to make a repeat purchase from the same company.

The mobile-first approach is also preferred in SEO best practices to ensure a positive user experience across all devices. Nowadays, most users access search engines via mobile, so the search engines analyze the mobile version of a page as well. 48% of users get frustrated when a website is not mobile responsive.
Google Anayltics results devices

Improve User Design

As UX designers we all know what good design practices are and how they affect SEO. A good user design improves user experience, and it comprises how well the components are placed on a page and how easily a user can find the information they are looking for. A good user interface can raise your website’s conversion rate by 200%, while a better UX design can increase conversions by up to 400%.

According to 2022 Small Business Website Statistics, “38% of customers will stop engaging with a site if it doesn’t have an appealing layout”. If the users don't like the web interface, they will likely spend less time on it and will not return which will negatively affect the website's ranking.

While everything that is discussed above contributes towards good user design, choosing colors, aesthetically pleasing elements, easy-to-find options, and graphics will directly or indirectly affect user engagement as well as SEO.

Information Architecture

  • Information architecture organizes the content in such a way as to make it easy for users to find what they are looking for. As UX designers we must help users find this information by organizing the content that utilizes headings, bullets, lists, and graphics.

  • Site architecture must be intuitive with internal and external links to relevant content and optimized call-to-action buttons to facilitate the user’s journey within the website. A digital marketing agency saw an increase of 66% in page views by updating the content and optimizing the call-to-action buttons.

Simplify Navigation

Simplify the layout of all pages and website navigation for users to help them find more pages on your website. Users must be able to see every page on your website as quickly as possible.

  • According to statistics, 61.5% of visitors leave websites with lousy navigation.
  • Add an “About Us” section since 52% of users want to check the “About us” section when they visit a website.
  • Use breadcrumbs if a website has a complex navigational structure.
  • Add a search option to quickly locate a page.
  • Add contact information. 44% of visitors will leave a company’s website without contact information.

Improve Web Accessibility

Web accessibility makes the content more accessible and understandable for everyone regardless of any disabilities. UX designers are equipped with the knowledge of accessibility and how to implement it. Following the accessibility principles through better user design will increase the site's organic visibility and improve the SEO.

Increase Time on Page


The more time a user spends on a web page indicates that the site’s content is relevant, engaging, and easy to navigate. When a user spends less time on the website it means that the content was not relevant to the target keywords.

According to the survey, it takes just 2.6 seconds for a user to form an opinion about a website based on its landing page. Good UI/UX design creates a positive first impression and high engagement, making the user stay longer on the website thus making it more credible and search engine friendly. 75% of a website’s credibility is due to design and credibility is crucial for search engines and rankings.
Average time on page

Decrease Bounce Rate

Bounce rate shows the percentage of users that exit a website after viewing a single page. Search engines accumulate this data and evaluate it based on long and short clicks. While it is not relevant to a UX designer, what’s relevant is to make a user stay longer on the website with the help of a good design. 90% of users leave a website because it is poorly designed which means we as UX designers can considerably decrease the bounce rate and improve search engine ranking.

Bounce rates on Google Analytics

Increase Pages per Session

Pages or page views per session tell the average number of pages users view in each session on a website. Once a user opens a website, the session starts, and it ends when a user closes the website. When a user views more pages in a session, the search engine considers the content more valuable and improves the page’s ranking.

A good UX design with simple navigation and organized and appealing content makes the user spend more time and explore more pages on the website which increases the website's credibility and search engine rankings.

User Acquisition and Behavior on Google Analytics based on pages per session and session duration

Effectively Arrange High-Quality Content

Search engines prioritize pages that deliver high-quality and informative content that gives an accurate answer to relevant search queries. While content creators make sure to provide high-quality content, it's the responsibility of the UX designer to arrange and format the content in such a manner to make it more appealing and engaging.

Also, the branding should be stable and consistent across all content types which improves brand recognition for better user experience and search engine ranking. 71% of consumers report a preference for brands they recognize which increases traffic and converts more traffic.