SEO + UX = The key to success

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There was a time when we used to think that having an optimized SEO, was as simple as adding multiple keywords on a webpage so it could end up at the head of Google searches. What a utopian dream … Nowadays, numerous factors are taken in account by Google, and many other search engines, to determine the most popular pages in search results.

Among the new SEO practices, you will need to pay close attention to the user experience (UX): is it easy and smooth for your users to navigate on your website ? Is it ergonomic and user-friendly ? Do you offer high-quality contents inciting your visitors to stay and navigate ? Do you offer a website that is secured, fast and compatible with all devices including mobiles and tablets ? So many questions that web experts have to face on a daily basis.

Here is list of non-neglectable elements that will impact both the user experience and the search engine optimization of your website.

Choose the right titles

Just like newspapers’ headlines help to look for information, webpages’ titles facilitate the understanding and analysis of the contents not only for the visitors, but also for Google robots.

Titles named  <h1>;<h2>;<h3>;<h4>;<h5> et <h6> should facilitate the visitors’ reading and allow search engines to find a logical hierarchy of your contents.We should only find a single h1 tag on a webpage, it will help identify the main objective of your page. In general, the h1 title is found at the top of your page and is of course, composed of the most important keywords that you wish to put forward.

The other titles, from h2 to h6, are here to structure your content. You can use these tags several times as long as they are used with logic, without combining them all. Don’t event titles if they are not necessary. Do not worry if you only use h1 and h2 tags, they are the most used ones.

Offer a perfectly structured and designed website

In our days, websites need to be intuitive in order to make the navigation smoother and more user-friendly but also to incite your visitors to stay as long as possible so they can convert in fine: buying, subscribing to the newsletter, filling a webform…

Do not pollute your website with pop-ups appearing all the time, limit your list of options, avoid hidden parts where it will become difficult for users to go back to the homepage, etc… these are all good practices to consider.

Speed up your website

For a very long time, the loading speed of a website constituted a key factor in its ranking in Google search results. Furthermore, Google has also announced that the loading speed of the homepage in the mobile version will also influence the ranking since this year. Be careful to take in consideration this important new factor and to make sure that your website has an efficient loading speed on all types of devices, both on desktops and mobiles.

PageSpeed Insight , a performant Google tool, allows to measure the speed and optimizations of all kind of websites. All the more so as this tool’s biggest advantage relies in offering concrete suggestions to help you reduce the loading time and advice to optimize your webpages.

Blogs and news websites should specially take into account the loading speed stakes as they are regularly consulted on mobiles.

Offer an exceptional and single mobile experience

When we talk about mobile experience, several factors need to be considered including fast website loading, its design, its navigation, the highlighting of the texts and pictures…

Mobile-first index by Google, is a new indicator helping search engines to rank your website in search results. The ranking particularly depends on the mobile experience offered to the users.

One must not forget that website ergonomics is central for a good mobile experience. Both users and search engines need to easily and instantly find their information. Each elements of your mobile version website has an impact on UX and influence its ranking. Even the size and color of a button can influence the user’s interaction with the websites.   and Il faut garder en tête que l’ergonomie est l’élément majeur d’une bonne expérience mobile.

Simple and smart design greatly contribute in pleasing both your vistors and Google !

Pay close attention to your users’ behaviors

Even if they are not taken in account for the website’s ranking on search engines, users’ behaviors analysis including bounce rate or time on site (session duration), are more and more important during Google robots’ inspections. It is very certain that they will constitute new factors in the future.

Each interaction between the user and your website will show Google his interest for and his interaction with your website.

Now you are fully equipped to conceive a powerful site. Minimal and its team stands right by your side to answer your questions and guide you through the creation of a highly efficient and inspiring web design.