What comes to mind when you see the term "SEO"? How is all your energy concentrated when you try to improve the SEO ranking of your website?

Most people concentrate a large part of their time on "key words" and not much else.

However, if you have been working diligently on keyword optimization but you still do not get the results you want, you may need to consider other factors that affect the SEO ranking.

The search engine algorithms not only rank the relevance of your keywords in the pages and metadata, in relation to a user's search terms, but also evaluate information such as the length of stay of visitors in your site, bounce rate, broken links, viewed links, incoming and outgoing pages, etc.

Getting users to stay on your website and interact with your content can improve the ranking of your website, and you can do so by improving the user experience and usability of your website.

The use of keywords for visitors to access your site is only half the story. If you approach SEO as "optimizing your website for people who use search engines," the notion of ease of use becomes an important factor.

In this article, I will analyze the different aspects of the usability of the website that affect the ranking of websites, how to improve SEO rankings by improving the usability of the website and what to do when there seems to be a conflict between usability and "best practice" wish.

What is the usability of the website?

The usability of the website encompasses many elements of website design, most of which are also linked to the conversion.

Here are some that may affect the ranking of your website:

Efficacy: Can users achieve their goals when they access your website? eg can they find the information they need, order the products they want or contact the company to obtain customer service?

Efficiency: adding efficiency is efficiency. In addition to being able to achieve a goal, how quickly can a user complete a task? If visitors cannot find what they need effectively and efficiently on their website, they are more likely to get away. The less time they spend on your website can have a negative impact on the SEO ranking.

Learning: can users learn to navigate your website quickly? Are click-to-action calls coherent for visitors to know how to interact? When visitors spend too much time trying to figure out how to use their website, they spend less time consuming their information or looking at their products. Also, when they cannot find what they need, they are likely to get frustrated, walk away and never come back.

Reliability: can users return to find your website the next time they enter a search engine? Repeating traffic can help you get an increase in Google ranking. Visitors can find your website and then browse for several reasons. You can remember it later and try to look for it again. Is the keyword associated with that particular search memorable enough so they can find your site again?

Prevention of errors: certain errors in a website can affect not only the user experience but also the SEO classification. e.g. an error of 404 pages not found, a link that says one thing but shows something else, or a broken link that is no longer valid.

How good website usability improves SEO ranking?

Search engines reward sites that are easy to use, which means they have great ease of use. Google favors sites that are not only rich in keywords, but also demonstrate user participation.

The SEO ranking improves when visitors stay on your site for longer, see more pages and repeat their visits. The easier it is to use your site, the more likely it is that this will happen.

Let's take a look at the 13 elements that not only increase the ease of use on your site, but also help improve SEO ranking:

1. Useful, high quality, relevant content

"Wait time" is the amount of time that visitors spend on your website and may affect the SEO ranking.

When it provides useful content, visitors tend to stay longer on their website to consume the information and, therefore, increase the time spent.

Based on this research, the content between 2,000 and 2,500 words seems to be the highest in search engine results.

Although word counting does not rule the SEO world, nobody will read your stuff if it's not useful to them, the longer content gives you the opportunity to provide more value, include more keywords, incorporate more outbound links and, of course, attract people spend more time reading to increase the time spent.

Another reason to create highly useful content is that when visitors mark their content in Chrome, it will improve the SEO ranking of your website in Google.

Content around 2,500 words gets the most amount of Google juice.

2. Load speed of the page.

Both Google and Bing take into account the page load speed in their website ranking algorithm.

Users can leave your site if they have to wait even a few additional seconds for each page to load. That would affect your stay time, increase your bounce rate and reduce the number of pages visited, all of which could harm your SEO ranking.

There are many ways to increase page load speed, some of which include the use of caching add-ons, make sure the code is clean and optimized, optimize the size of the images, reduce the number of add-ons and minimize redirects.

Proper image optimization can help reduce file size and improve loading speed.

Research has shown that the use of good quality images can increase the conversion rate. Proper optimization of your images can help you take advantage of the use of photos to generate empathy, increase confidence and improve a visitor's experience without hampering loading time that could affect your SEO ranking.

3. Optimization of the image.

In addition to the format and size of the image file, there are other ways to make sure that your images are working hard for you in front of SEO.

You can point out the relevance of your content to search engines by using keywords for the name of your image file, alternative tag, title, description and title.

4. Header tags

Nobody likes to run on a wall of text.

A good format of your content helps greatly improve the user experience of your website. It makes readers more willing to spend time reading your content and searching again, which will ultimately signal its relevance to search engines.

Proper use of header tags can help divide your content into sections that are easier to read and use.

It is easy to insert header tags in WordPress to improve the user experience and improve the SEO ranking of your website.

Search engines also rate keywords in the header tags more intensively. By including relevant terms in your header tags, you are also increasing your SEO ranking compared to those keywords.

5. Outbound links

To make your content more useful and relevant, you can link to authority sites to get more detailed information that your readers can use.

Linking to respected authority sites will not only increase the relevance of your content and the time that readers spend on your site, but it is also believed to send trust signals to Google and improve SEO ranking.

However, more is not necessarily better. Too many outbound links can distract and make content difficult to convey.

6. Different multimedia.

Images, videos, slide shows and audio can help enrich the user experience and allow you to deliver information in the most appropriate way for visitors to your ideal site.

They also act as a signal of quality content for search engines ... after all, you've worked to make your content look good and interactive!

Video marketing has become an increasingly integral element to boost the participation and conversion of users. It has been found that websites that use videos can achieve a conversion rate of 4.8% higher, compared to an average of 2.9% on websites that do not use videos.

Videos make visitors spend more time on a website and retain more information.

7. broken links

Who wants to get a 404 page after clicking on a link? Broken links make usability bad.

Not only that, search engines consider a lot of broken links as a sign of an old and neglected site and this can affect your SEO ranking.

Fortunately, you do not have to go through every page of your website and try the links manually. There are many tools and applications to help ensure that your site is free of broken links, such as:

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Google webmaster tool
• W3C Link Checker

8. readability

Even if you have a well-educated public, you probably do not want to decipher a doctoral thesis each time you visit their website and read its content. You do not want them to stop reading your content and click on it because it is very difficult to digest.

Making your content easy to read and understand helps make it useful for your readers. Some experts also believe that Google takes into account readability when classifying web pages.

You can use a variety of tools to test the readability of your content, including:

• Readability-Score.com
• The readability test tool
• Readability statistics in MS Word

9. Design and formatting.

The right format and easy-to-use design can help improve the user experience and make your content easy to scan and summarize, so your readers stay on your site for longer and consume the information on your website.

The format can help to drastically improve the ease of use of a web page by making the content easy to read:

• Use font size and typography that are easy to read.
• Use bold and colors, moderately and strategically, to get important information and make the content easy to scan.
• Use short paragraphs and wide spaces between lines: nobody likes a text wall.
• Use bulleted or numbered lists for clarity.

Use techniques such as sliders, tabs, progressive designs, structured grids, modal windows, rollover elements, accordions and mega drop-down menus to organize content and add interactivity.

Divide the content into sections with subtitles. The proper use of header tags that include keywords also helps improve SEO ranking.

10. Contact us page

According to this Google document (p.98), websites that have enough contact information are considered more trustworthy and, therefore, search engines can get a higher ranking.

Including a Contact page on your website and placing the link in the navigation is not only a good experience for the user (especially if you have an e-commerce site) but it can also potentially give you some Google juice.

It was found that a well-designed contact form increases the user's participation in the online presence of a company. It also helps generate new business opportunities, attract new potential customers, improve customer service and more.

11. Architecture and site navigation.

When visitors cannot find what they need on a website immediately, they are more likely to leave the site and this contributes to a high bounce rate, a low stay time and a low number of pages visited.

A thoughtful architecture of the site reflected in a clear navigation is essential to help visitors find what they want on their site, achieve their goals and return repeatedly (repeated visits can improve SEO ranking).

A "flat" site architecture not only makes content easier to find, but can also help improve SEO rankings as links from all critical pages emerge, making it easier for search engines track the entire site.

12. Mobile optimization

As of April 2015, Google has begun to penalize sites that are not optimized for mobile devices by reducing their ranking in search engines.

More and more users consume content on mobile devices, and the non-optimization of mobile devices will affect the conversion and user experience.

It is particularly important for B2B marketers. Research has shown that 77 percent of executives use their smartphone to research a product or service for their business.

Business executives use mobile devices to research products and services for their businesses.

Nor is it just for B2B websites. Companies such as Yelp, which act as search directories that connect consumers with businesses, found that 55% of all searches come from mobile devices.

If your website has been running for a while, it's time to try it to make sure it meets the requirements.

The number of users accessing the Internet through mobile devices has exceeded the number using the desktop.

13. Share social networks

The number of Facebook shares, Tweets, Pinterest pins and other mentions in social networks can influence the range of SEO.

The installation of social media buttons on your website not only makes it easier for users to share your content and, therefore, improves the user experience, but it can also help you get better search ratings.

Social exchange also helps boost purchasing behavior: almost 4 out of 10 Facebook users report that they have gone from liking, sharing or commenting on an article to actually buying it, while 43% of social network users have bought a product after sharing it or liking it on Pinterest. , Facebook or Twitter.

In this case study, a pest control company increased organic traffic by 15% in just 2 weeks after running a campaign aimed at increasing social exchange.

Peep Laja managed to get more than 40,000 unique visits to his site in the number one month, taking most of the traffic generated through shared social networks.

To start, here are some social button add-ons to share:

• SumoMe
• Shareaholic
• WP Social Sharing

Resolving the conflict between usability and SEO "best practices"

In most cases, the elements that contribute to good usability also improve the SEO ranking. However, there are cases where conflicts occur:

Many content creators "fill in" keywords on a page to get SEO juice, but that could undermine the readability and user experience of the content.

Attempting to include keywords in an article may affect the writer's vocabulary selection, sometimes making the content difficult to understand.

Outbound links can be good for SEO, but many of them can distract and if they are not directly related to the subject in question, it can impact the reader's experience.

The overload of footnotes that each page contains on the site can help improve SEO ranking, but it also creates confusion when a visitor is trying to find certain key pages.

Sometimes, especially in the short term, you may have to make an exchange between more SEO traffic and optimal user experience.

Do not be fooled simply by comparing numbers, such as numbers of visitors and page views. SEO traffic can give you higher numbers in the short term, but a better user experience can often result in higher conversions.

In the long term, with an eye on conversion and, ultimately, on revenue, it is often a smart move to prioritize the user experience instead of milking every last SEO trick.

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