SEO: OMG SEO & Usability Are Like Totally BFF! Dr. Naveel Examines These Twins
|
Written By Dr. Naveel | July 31, 2008 | Share This
|
|
I once worked with a client (major magazine) that had a very difficult website to navigate and understand. When I brought this to their attention they informed me that this was, in fact, by design. Their reasoning was simple: if the user can’t find what they’re looking for they will spend more time on the website and click on more pages in an effort to locate the information they sought. Clever, right?
I regretfully informed them that this would not be the case. When you’re competing against millions of other websites with sometimes very similar information you need every edge you can get in satisfying user needs. If the visitor can’t find what they’re looking for on your website the easiest thing to find next is the exit. They can click back to the search results page (SERP) and move on to the next website. Additionally, it’s a bad branding experience for both the website and for the search engine that delivered the frustrating result. Search engines know that if their results aren’t usable, users will move on to another search platform. That’s why usability is crucial for both end users and search engines.
Keyword Prominence Leads To Search Dominance
When you click through from a SERP to a webpage how do you know what it’s about? You will instinctively look for a heading. If the heading (if there is one) is descriptive of the webpage you are able to “get” what the webpage is about in seconds. You have just determined page relevance. Wouldn’t you know it, search engines use page headers to determine relevance as well! The heading, sub-headings, page title, and page text all play a role in helping search engines determine page relevance, just as they do for a website’s vistor. That’s why it is critical to be descriptive of the page contents in all of these different areas of the webpage. Placing keywords in these prominent locations will enhance the user experience, while increasing your relevance and eventually your organic search traffic.
Can you tell what the above page is about? I’ll give you one hint: It’s not about Commerce Bank Benefits although that’s what the heading would lead you to believe. Can’t tell? Well, neither can search engines or potential customers.
What about this webpage? If you guessed mortgages you’re very astute. Incidentally that’s what the Commerce Bank webpage was about, too. The CitiBank webpage is one that both search engines and users will understand without having to poke around or lose patience.
The Story Must Be Told Above the Fold
If you can’t see it you can’t click on it. Seems simple enough right? You’d be surprised how many organizations forget this simple concept. They place important content “below the fold” which simply means the user can’t see the content unless they scroll down in their browser. When I’ve explained why no one has read the crucial bit of information or clicked on the desired link, I sometimes hear this response: “But the content and functionality are already there! All the user has to do is read the page!”
There lies the fly in the ointment: Internet users don’t read a webpage like they do a book. They scan a page looking for interesting and relevant items first before deciding to move on or explore the page in depth. Most will never take the time to scroll if they don’t find what they’re looking for in the visible portion of your webpage.
What can do you if moving important content above the fold is not an option? Several things, actually. Consider adding links to these areas on your top navigation bar or tabs so that users can get a feel of what lies below. Also, consider breaking up content among several pages. This can help develop more focused relevant page themes. In all these instances, clear cues at the top of the page help users and search engines determine content.
In the above picture content both below the fold and on another page are referenced at the top. In an instant a user can tell what information is likely to be in this article. Search Engines are also helped by having it broken out into clearly defined sections.
Usability Is Increasing in Importance
The ways in which we search for information on the internet are evolvinge every day. With blended or universal search results we are seeing more than just ten blue links being returned in SERPs. Personalized search means different users are seeing different results. Users can even block sites they don’t like from results. Additionally, search engines keep thinking of new ways to scrape information from your website and display it on their SERPs in a more useable format. They want to capture as many page views as possible by delivering what the user wants.
With all of these innovations and more sure to come, there is one constant that holds true no matter what – usability. No matter how search evolves, if users easily find what they want on your website you will continue to get search traffic simply because any search engine that doesn’t return your site in their results will be missing the usefulness their users crave.
Topics: Dr. Naveel, ECommerce, Google, Reprise Media, SEO, Search: How-To |