Managing Website SEO and User Experience

One generally comes through a common phrase when designing a website i.e. don’t focus on search engines while designing the website, instead the focus should be on delivering a great user experience. Very few people have a clear idea about the difference between the two. The general question that is raised is – can a good user experience as well as effective SEO strategy be implemented at the same time for the betterment of the website? Providing answer for it is difficult for any one as there is very thick line between both of these essential qualities a website must equipped with.

The answer for the question is – YES, but there are some restrictions which have to be taken care of. The website’s navigation should be proper so that users can easily navigate within the website and it becomes easy for them to locate what they are looking for. The most importantly, we should try that they keep coming back repeatedly. A website when provide more and more comfort to its users became their favourite as it ease their task of decision making.

Here I am sharing 4 Best ways to balance SEO and User Experience what we are applying with our CloudBooks  and getting positive response.

1. Avoid Repetitive Use of Keywords

Using a keyword is important in order to increase the ranking of a website in the search results algorithm. But be careful, the Google search algorithm is tough enough to detect that the keywords are being stuffed or being used in a natural way. Google’s updates such as Panda and Penguin always have an eye on website quality and penalize websites that do not adhere to their guidelines and use irrelevant keywords in order to rank better.

The best alternative option can be to use it in title tags, ALT tags of the images, and defining URL related to the keyword being used. Having keywords 2-3 times in a natural way makes sense. This let Google assume that the content is focused on the keyword which is being stressed 2-3 times and thus helps to boost ranking for search terms related to that keyword.

2. Updating Website at regular Interval

Changing a website from scratch at regular interval is not possible, but one can regularly publish new articles or update the existing ones so that the website keeps on indexing at regular interval in search engines. Initiating regular research work on what the audience is looking for and then catering their requirements through the website content can be a lot beneficial. Giving new information about the service or product provide a good reason for the users to keep coming back and checking the latest offerings and updates.

3. Simplify Navigation

Users generally land on a website page to find solutions to their problems and get their requirements at ease. If they don’t find it, they can move to another website. Therefore, navigation becomes important in order to serve the audience in a proper way.  One should study and understand the requirements of the audience and then use that information to ease the navigation process. The title of the path should be clear so that users have a clear understanding about the page they are going to. Studies have shown that sometime highlighting or changing the font of navigation link helps in more purchase and increase in the conversion rate of the website.

4. Incorporate Responsive Designing

Google and other search engines have realised the importance of having mobile friendly website and have considered it as a ranking factor in mobile and other devices search results. Website optimized for mobile now directly has the impact on search presence. Responsive designing have been the best solution for most of professional IT firms as it adapts itself on desktops, laptops tablets and phones. This also eases the way website adapts itself to certain changes in devices and provides the comfort of navigation on any of them.

There are several other ways by which one can keep a balance between user experience and SEO, the only thing one should focus is giving comfort to visitors so that they enjoy navigating the website and love to visit it in future. These 2 are very important features for any website and cannot be neglected at any cost. The only thing is it have to be incorporated in best possible way so as to yield good profitable result.

Author Bio : Monesh Shrivastava is content marketing manager at CloudBooks. He holds a Bachelor degree MBA in marketing from TMU, Moradabad. He loves to read & write about, SEO, Social Media, and Small business.