5 WAYS UX CAN IMPROVE YOUR SEO
A common term throughout the digital marketing industry is, “CRO” or Conversion Rate Optimization.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wait…There’s another online marketing acronym?!”
Yes. Yes, there is.
Advanced CRO is often described as A/B testing and can involve an expensive trial & error process. In a lot of cases, that cost doesn’t even come with any guarantee you’ll ever see results. However, there are some obvious changes that you can implement to improve your conversion rate and user experience without a CRO price tag.
Below are just a few tips to improve in this area without AB testing:
Don’t make your users angry
One of the most common mistakes that a company can make is to assume that their users will just deal with a site the way it is. Too often, that isn’t the case. People are growing less and less patient with their online experience.
If something on your website is annoying you, think about how someone who visits your website without bias feels. I don’t know about you but the way I deal with being annoyed by a website is to hit the back button or to leave the site.
How do you solve this you ask?
REVAMP THE AREA OF THE SITE CAUSING PROBLEMS
Use the K.I.S.S. method here. Rather than killing yourself with details, try and find the easiest solution or workaround to improve the area of the site.
There are often simple solutions on most website building platforms.
However, there are cases where a simple revamp just won’t cut it. If your site design is over 5 years old or you’re restricted by your CMS platform, it may be time to look consider a new website.
SIMPLIFY YOUR SITE
Often times less is more. Content is still king but you’ll want to make sure you have a balance of ease of use and information. You should try to find a balance between simplistic ease of access to important pages and content placement.
MIGRATE TO A NEW PLATFORM
As I mentioned before, if the root of the problem is your website, I would recommend migrating over to a simple SEO friendly platform like WordPress or Weebly.
If you plan on switching platforms, make sure to do your due diligence in researching the right platform before you migrate your site. This is very important, especially for eCommerce sites that have to consider the migration of products.
CALL TO ACTION
Add things like buttons and links to take users where you want them to go. Something simple like a button or link in your content or header can make a huge difference in your conversion rate.
Examples
- Header, banner, or content CTA button:
- Content call to action example: “Contact us now for all your SEO needs!”
Make sure your phone number or contact page is easy to get to or in some cases visible at all times so your user knows where to go.
Often when a user gets stuck, they are likely to just go with another provider that makes it easy for them.
CONTENT
Make sure users can understand the point of your website. If nothing else, your content should contain anything you want a potential customer to see. Your site should be more about what you are going to offer than an overview of your executive team. That’s what the about us page is for.
If you’re missing something or a competitor is doing it better, you should probably put some work into matching if not outdoing them.
EXAMPLE OF PAGE:
Please use common sense. This is a simple outline and is not intended to fix all your website problems. For that, you should probably contact us for more info!
CONTACT PAGE
- Any contact information that could entice a user to become a lead should be visible right away. If your site uses directions to your location, phone numbers, or email to drive leads these should be easily seen and accessible.
- If contact forms are a driving force for leads, make sure they are above any unnecessary content or media (usually being able to see a portion of the form will suffice)
- Minimize the amount of criteria you require to complete your form(s). Only ask for the information you absolutely need.
CONDENSE YOUR MENU AND NAVIGATION
Convoluted navigation can often lead to confusion and even a state of panicked disarray. I would suggest that you try to prevent your users from questioning their sanity because of your website.
The menu should be a highlight of what you offer. Dropdowns or content links can be the catalyst for pages you do not include in your navigation. Be sure that you don’t orphan pages though.
IN CONCLUSION
I hope this blog post has helped you gain a new lease on life in terms of your SEO. All it takes is some basic common sense, the right support, and a drive to make your site and business better for yourself and your visitors.
Matthew is the President of Infront Webworks and is a New England native now calling Colorado Springs home. Matt attended The University of NH where he pursued a BS in Natural Resource Economics & Business Administration. Aside from Infront; Matthew has owned and managed two other online agencies based on the seacoast of New Hampshire and been a key player in multiple technology mergers & acquisitions. When he’s not bathing in technology, online marketing & business; he’s probably spending time with his wife and daughter, boating, skiing the trees, hiking or cooking..he is a foodie for sure!
