Modern SEO is about people, and that means catering your campaign to what your customers are looking for. Knowing Google’s rules for ranking organically is important, but having a website that is tailored for your customer base is even more important. Here’s why user experience (UX) matters for your business.

Imagine clicking an organic link only to be met by a homepage that was only a block of text– no images, no spaces between words, no buttons– just words. And at the bottom of this homepage, there was a button that said BUY NOW! Chances are that you’d have clicked back long before ever reaching the bottom, but humor us for a moment. Would you ever click the buy button? Doubtful.

FACT: 88% of online customers are less likely to return to you after a bad experience.

The buying experience is a delicate process, and an optimized user experience (UX) on your site is crucial to success. The good news is that good SEO is part of a good UX, and a good UX is part of good SEO. Here’s why UX matters for your business:

User behaviour affects SEO

Google’s search engine algorithm is so advanced that it actually combines a number of user behaviors toward your website as part of your rankings. For example, if someone searches “SEO in Montreal,” finds your site, clicks it and then sees that you aren’t what they were looking for, chances are they will leave immediately. Google equates this with meaning you aren’t a good result for “SEO in Montreal” and suppresses your ranking.

A number of different factors (including bounce rate) are combined into a metric known as dwell time. Dwell time is a metric meant to determine how often users are clicking your page from the search engine results page (SERP) and staying there (which Google assumes to be good). The better your UX, the more likely users are to stay and therefore the better your SEO will be.

FACT: the average bounce rate for a service page is only 10-30%, but that still means almost one third of traffic is lost. It’s an SEO and revenue killer.

UX is essential for conversions

Your website is not just a static billboard advertising your services to people; it is a tool meant to turn visitors into customers. The problem is that only about 2% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates. It is of course impossible to convert every visitor into a customer, but making sure your website is setup properly gives you the best chance at doing so. A good UX will make the customer experience enjoyable, simple, and seamless. Making sure your site performs well, is clearly structured, offers direct copy that is in line with your services, and clearly denotes what you do is just the beginning.

The bottom line about UX

Creating a great user experience is a delicate art, and takes a lot more research and work than most might think. A good UX will:

  • Result in more clicks from the SERP
  • Make visitors stay longer on your site
  • Help visitors find the information they’re looking for faster
  • Increase your organic rankings
  • Increase the conversion rate for your site

In short, it means higher revenue for your company. Images, targeted copy, good web content, loading times, functionality, usability, and many other factors go into making the perfect web experience for your customer.

Don’t lose out on valuable traffic or let interested visitors slip away. If your customer has a flawless experience when interacting with your company, they are more likely to buy, and more likely to remain loyal and recommend you.