If you are unfamiliar with the term user experience, you must get to know the concept soon. User experience is an important factor in website design that can dictate the type of relationship you build with potential customers. A website’s user experience also can make or break your upcoming search engine optimization campaign.
What is User Experience?
The term user experience, otherwise known simply as UX, describes the holistic journey through your website. The user experience begins with the very first interaction that a visitor has with your website.
The term user experience was actually created by the cognitive scientist Dr Donald Norman to identify just how important user-centered design is. User experience describes how a user feels without interaction with your website and can be affected by a number of different factors, from system performance to aesthetic design.
How Does User Experience Impact SEO?
If you are not aware of the link between user experience and search engine optimization, you are not alone. In fact, you may think you have tried all SEO companies in Birmingham or your local area and still find yourself struggling to yield results from your SEO campaigns. However, if you have tried many different SEO practices and worked with many different companies without much effect, your problem is likely with user experience.
The list below outlines some of the reasons why user experiences impact search engine optimization potential.
Responsive Website Design
How responsive your website is, specifically how well it adjusts to different screen sizes, will impact user experience. Visitors to your websites are likely viewing your site on a number of different devices, such as a mobile phone, laptop, or tablet. If you do not have a responsive website design, your site is unlikely to function well across all screen sizes.
When a site cannot perform and adjust to a user’s screen size, it will dimmish the user experience. This will likely lead a user to become frustrated and leave your site quickly. Having a high bounce back rate of visitors entering and then quickly clicking off your site will impact your search engine ranking potential.
Intuitive Navigation
Navigation is another important factor that will impact user experience. Internet users today are accustomed to a certain website structuring and style of operations, so much, so that website navigation becomes intuitive. When your website is too difficult to navigate and confusing to operate, it will affect user experience. This will limit the amount of time that users spend on your website, impacting search engine ranking potential.
Home Page Design
Your home page is likely the first interaction that a potential customer has with your brand, setting user experience expectations. When your home page takes too long to load, is aesthetically unpleasing, or too difficult to navigate, this will have a big impact. In fact, it takes less than two seconds for an internet user to make a first impression of a website. This first impression has the power to make or break the relationship you have with a customer, causing them to instantly like your brand or click off your site, never to return. This means that making the right first impression with your home page is vital for user experience and, by extension, SEO potential.
