UI UX Design and Their Relations to SEO
Why UI UX is Important in SEO
Improving a website’s SEO doesn’t only revolve around creating high quality content. It involves a lot more aspects and elements. With emerging brands creating more competitive content than their business rivals, Google has started to include aspects other than the website’s content as a ranking factor in their search engine.
One such factor is the user experience ( UX ) aspect of your website. This has been known to be one of the website ranking factors Google has put into place since 2021, and is still valid today in 2024.
UX revolves around the experience a user had while they’re using your site. For example, if a user accessed your site using their smartphone, will the site be usable? How pleasant is their experience in navigating the site?
UX generally works in tandem with the User Interface ( UI ) aspect in improving a website experience, hence the terms UI/UX design. UI focuses on the visual element and cue, which in turn helps with the UX of a website.
How UI/UX Helps in SEO
A well designed UI/UX of a website doesn’t just help in making the website visually appealing, it directly impacts how search engines perceive your website. Here’s how:
- User Engagement and Dwell Time: Dwell time refers to the amount of time users spent on a page before clicking back into the search result page. An intuitive interface with engaging content and clear navigation helps in making the visitors stay on the page longer. This translates to a longer dwell time, which search engines consider a signal of valuable content for the users. The more time they spend on your pages, the higher your website might be able to rank.
- Navigation and Internal Linking: Having a clear navigation menus and structured internal linking make it easier for users to navigate the site and find what they’re looking for. This practice also helps to create a strong website architecture, allowing search engines to crawl and understand your content more effectively.
- Website Speed: Fast loading speed ensures a great user experience and stops visitors from bouncing off your website. Incidentally, search engines also take into account the website’s loading speed in their ranking factors. Check out our blog titled 10 Proven Tips to Improve Your Website Speed to get some tips and insight to improve your website speed.
- Mobile Friendliness: Making a website that is made for desktop appear good and usable on mobile is called responsive design. UI/UX design principles like optimized image and responsive layout helps in improving access from smartphones. This is particularly important as Google is currently using Mobile First Indexing to crawl through websites. To find out more about responsive design, have a look at our blog article titled Top 5 Reason Why Responsive Web Design Is Important.
Conclusion
In conclusion, UI/UX design is not simply about improving the cosmetics and user experience of a website. Its fundamental element is a great approach in creating a solid SEO strategy. By prioritizing user engagement, a clear website navigation, website speed and a seamless mobile experience, UI/UX design will directly influence how search engines see your website and how users will interact with it.