Why Your SEO is Useless Without Optimal UX

While nearly nine in 10 online customers are less likely to return to your website after a single bad experience, a well-conceived, frictionless UX design can raise customer conversion rates up to 400%. On mobile phones — where, by 2025, almost 75% of internet users will exclusively access the internet — 53% of users will leave if a page doesn’t load within three seconds.

The advice of Google senior search analyst and influencer John Mueller: Simply “make a good website that works well for users.” Of course, this is easier said than done. 

Indeed, high search rankings don’t last if the content doesn’t provide value to consumers. Though more users may visit the site, they leave quickly, feeling disappointed and even betrayed by the brand’s failure to speak to their needs and goals. Needless to say, these users don’t buy anything, and they don’t return.

So, if you’re still strategizing for Google’s original algorithm, you’ve probably noticed fewer and fewer visits to your site overall. This is a sign you need to catch up. 

“Many organizations are currently undervaluing the power of digital design and should invest more in behaviorally informed designs to help people make better choices,” explain Shlomo Benartzi and Saurabh Bhargava in Harvard Business Review.

So, follow these eight steps to implement, test, optimize and scale the most mission-critical UX enhancements.