SEO Bootcamp: Learn the Basics of SEO in 2 Weeks (2016)

Chapter 5. User Experience Affects your Ranking

In the last chapter, we discussed the importance of keeping your targeted keywords in line with what your webpages are about and what your visitors need.

If your website for example focuses on muscle-building workout equipment, you should target keywords that people use to look for that type of item online.

When people click on the link to your webpage on the search engine results page, they have expectations that you need to meet. In this particular example, if you rank in the right keywords, the visitor may expect to find different types of weighted exercise tools. You may also add food supplements that increase the rate of muscle growth.

Let us say that your visitor arrives to your website using the key phrase“muscle-building workout equipment” but when they got to your website, they found that you focus on yoga tips and you only review yoga-related products. In this case, your visitor will be slightly disappointed with the results and may click the“back” button in their mobile device or their browser.

This is an example of a bad user experience. Search engines try to avoid sending people to the wrong websites. They also try to prevent poorly structured websites from ranking well. To make sure that only the best websites for a particular topic gets the top spot in the search result pages, the search engine algorithm considers multiple ranking factors. Check your website for the following ranking factors for a generally great user experience:

· Keyword-topic alignment

The first factor to consider is the keywords that you use. When your topic and your dominant keywords are not in line, your webpage may rank on keywords not related to the content you offer. This will lead to unsatisfied users. You may even get penalties in future algorithm updates.

· Inbound link quality

Links are a signal to the search engines that the webpage’s content is popular. This gives them the idea that people who may be interested in it in the future will have a good user experience when engaging with the content.

Popular websites have a considerable advantage when it comes to building links. More people are already following their content and they are more likely to get links from other great quality websites right after they publish.

· Navigational structure

Your website’s navigation is also important. Generally, you should make sure that visitors could reach all the pages from your home page in three clicks or less. If you have not planned on your website’s navigation on your building stage, you should take the time to list down all your webpages and make sure that they are easily accessible from your home page.

· User Engagement

When people click on the back button right after clicking on your link in the search engine results page, the search engine thinks that the user was disappointed with what they experienced. This could happen for a variety of reasons. For instance, it could be because a particular webpage is too slow in loading content. It could also be because they saw that the content in the webpage was not what they need. However, people can click back for less important reasons. Regardless of people’s reasons for clicking the back button, it will affect your page’s ranking in the search engines.

To prevent this from happening, you should design your content to keep people engaged. If you are using dominantly text content, writer your first paragraph well to get people hooked and not want to click back. You should also provide photos and images so that they will not just see a wall of text. If you have a video on the page, you need to make sure that it is functioning well and it loads fast. Lastly, you should have links to other interesting content to make sure that your visitor does not“bounce” or leave your website after the first page.

· Machine insights

One of the most significant updates in the world of SEO is the Panda updates of 2011. Google introduced a new part in its ranking algorithm, referred to in the SEO industry as machine learning. In a nutshell, the algorithm mimics how humans judge website quality. Many seasoned websites were overtaken by upstart websites when the updates rolled out because the design and overall user experience of the newer websites were better than the older ones. The black hat SEO practitioners were the target of the updates however; good quality websites with a few black hat practices were also affected.

Google’s goal was to clean up its search results from badly built websites that provide less than satisfactory user experience. As long as you keep your content quality high and you make sure that your users are satisfied with what you offer, you will be safe. By following the tips in this book, you will be able to avoid some of the negative effects of past updates and possibly, some future updates.

Activity for Days 9– 10: Design your website according to the preference of your ideal visitors

You should make sure that your website looks great to your ideal visitors. All the content that you have should also fit their needs and wants. Lastly, you should test your website’s navigation. You need to make sure that you connect pages with related content through links. If you have someone to help you out, you should have him or her look for a specific information in your website. You should then ask them for feedback on your website’s navigation.