seo & ux: finding the balance - rob ousbey

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SEO & User Experience: Finding the Balance

Rob Ousbey

[email protected]

@RobOusbey

Never has UX been more intertwined with SEO.

The FastestGuide To SEO,

Ever

When a website publishes content:

@Distilled @RobOusbey

business economics salary statistics

URL PageRank

http://study.com/articles/Sal... 3.5

http://business.ku.edu/emp... 3.8

http://www.allbusinessscho... 5.3

http://www.theglobeandmai... 4.8

http://naceweb.org/salary-re... 1.6

http://www.indeed.com/q-... 9.4

When a user performs a web search


business economics salary statistics

URL PageRank

http://study.com/articles/Sal... 3.5

http://business.ku.edu/emp... 3.8

http://www.allbusinessscho... 5.3

http://www.theglobeandmai... 4.8

http://naceweb.org/salary-re... 1.6

http://www.indeed.com/q-... 9.4

When a user performs a web search


SERP:Search engine results page

i

Ranking Factors

2005 Ranking Factors


https://moz.com/blog/ranking-factors-version-2-released


Is the page relevant to the term?

Is the page/site authoritative?


Relevancyvia: page content analysis + external factors

Authorityvia: external signals


Google Search Quality Team


Google’s Goal:

Portal to the Internet

Malware & virusesPaywall / registration-wall on landing page

Out of stock productsOut of date information

Pages that make it hard to find informationPages that are full of advertising

Bad User Experiences


SERP Quality Assessment

http://www.thesempost.com/google-rewrites-quality-rating-guide-seos-need-know/

Quality Rater Surveys


In-Result Surveys


User Behaviour Tracking

User Behaviour Tracking: Data Sources


User Behaviour Tracking: CTR


User Behaviour Tracking: Pogo Sticking


User Behaviour Tracking: Refinement


(This isn’t real data. I’m just illustrating a point.)


Links

On Page Optimization

Site Features

Social Metrics

User Metrics


If this were true,we’d see correlations between

rankings & some of these factors…

Larry Kim’s research into click-through-rate’s influence on rankings:moz.com/blog/higher-organic-click-through-conversion-rates-rankings



https://moz.com/blog/higher-organic-click-through-conversion-rates-rankings


Brian Dean’s conclusions about the impact of bounce rate on rankings:backlinko.com/search-engine-ranking


https://moz.com/blog/higher-organic-click-through-conversion-rates-rankings


Searchmetrics’ analysis of time on site’s correlation with rankings:www.searchmetrics.com/ranking-factors


www.searchmetrics.com/ranking-factors

SERP Click Through RateDoes it seem desirable?

Is it credible?

Bounce RateIs it useable?

Is it accessible?

Time on SiteIs it useful?

Is it valuable?



SERP Click Through RateDoes it seem desirable?

Is it credible?

Bounce RateIs it useable?

Is it accessible?

Time on SiteIs it useful?

Is it valuable?



Peter Morville’s User Experience Honeycombhttp://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/http://intertwingled.org/user-experience-honeycomb/

http://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/

http://intertwingled.org/user-experience-honeycomb/

Malware & virusesPaywall / registration-wall on landing page

Out of stock productsOut of date information

Pages that make it hard to find informationPages that are full of advertising

Bad User Experiences


EG: Ad-heavy Webpages




Peter Morville’s User Experience Honeycombhttp://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/http://intertwingled.org/user-experience-honeycomb/

http://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design/

http://intertwingled.org/user-experience-honeycomb/

Some uncontroversial, well-aligned tactics

Site Speed


👍

Lower bounce rate

👍

Longer time on site

👍

More conversions

Site Speed


Images


Images

http://newyorkpersonalshopper.com/


Images

https://www.amandasanders.com/


Images

https://www.yourfitz.com/


Remember to:

keep the images lightweight•

monitor your site speed•

consider using alt tags for crawlers & accessibility

Images


Internal Links


Breadcrumbs, Related Products

shop.nordstrom.com/s/converse-chuck-taylor-shoreline-women/3367581


Mobile Considerations


Responsive Design


Mobile Friendliness


Mobile-first Indexbit.ly/Mobile-first-indexing

App Indexationbit.ly/app-indexation

Progressive Web Appsbit.ly/progressive-web-apps

Other Mobile Considerations


https://bit.ly/Mobile-first-indexing

https://bit.ly/app-indexation

https://bit.ly/progressive-web-apps

Page Structure


Content Above / Below the Fold

http://www.virginatlantic.com/us/en/destinations/uk/london.html


Keyword Research


The process of aligning your offering with searcher intent

•

Learn what the user is expecting to experience

Keyword Research


Keyword Research


Let’s get to some more troublesome parts

Web Apps


Web Apps

https://www.itailor.com/designshirts


Web Apps

www.itailor.com/designshirts

custom shirtsdesign a dress shirt


www.itailor.com/designshirts

custom shirtsdesign a dress shirt

slim fit shirtsblue checked shirt

french cuff dress shirt?

www.itailor.com/??


Web Apps

www.itailor.com/slim-fit/

slim fit shirts

blue checked shirt

french cuff dress shirt

www.itailor.com/checked/blue

www.itailor.com/dress-shirt/french-cuffs

Slim-fit shirtsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.

● penatibus et magnis● dis parturient montes● nascetur ridiculus mus.

Checked shirts in blueLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.


Dress shirt with french cuffsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.



Web Apps

Big Landing Pages


www.ipsum.com/recruiting/

All About RecruitingLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.


College RecruitmentLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.

Hiring VeteransLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.

Inclusive PracticesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.


Consolidated Pages

www.ipsum.com/recruiting/

Recruitment HubLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoqu

Graduate RecruitmentHiring VeteransInclusive Hiring Practices

www.ipsum.com/college-recruitment/

www.ipsum.com/hiring-veterans/

www.ipsum.com/includsive-practices/

Graduate RecruitmentLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.


Hiring VeteransLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.


Inclusive Hiring PracticesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque.



Consolidated Pages

We can make them work for SEO, with the caveats:

You must be aiming to create the”best page on the internet”•

You should have some chance at ranking for the head term•

Treat it like a topic hub if necessary


Long Landing Pages

Long Landing Pages

Number of unique linking domains over time.

Data via: Majestic.com


Long Landing Pages

Infinite Scroll Webpages


www.ecom.com/category/lbd/

Black DressesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque..


Infinite Scroll Pages



Theseproducts are

discoverable & indexable

All these other products could have problems.



We can make them acceptable for SEO

Make it a ‘progressive enhancement’





Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

1Show Google the

version with pagination links

Page 4






1Show Google the


2Mark these up with

rel = prev/next,and use canonical

tags

Page 4






1Show Google the


2Mark these up with


tags

Page 4

3Allow capable

browsers to replaces the pagination

buttons with the infinite scrolling effect






1Show Google the


2Mark these up with


tags

Page 4

3Allow capable

browsers to replaces the pagination

buttons with the infinite scrolling effect

4Don’t overlook the power of sitemaps

for discovery & indexation as well



https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1663744

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1663744

Mega Navigation


Encourages crawlers to discover / index lots of pages.

Strong control over internal anchor text.


Mega Navigation

But it creates a very flat architecture.Are all these pages equally valuable?

Are users really going to explore this far?


Mega Navigation

The ideal main nav will:

Be as complex as it needs to be, but no more•

Show which pages really are most important•

Help users find the best pages, on-site and in search


Mega Navigation

On Page Markup & Targeting


The Gizmo 5000Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetueradipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula egetdolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque..

A popular alternative to the the Gadget 900Pellentesque maximus lorem nec convallislobortis. Aliquam Gizmo 5000 cursus elit necmetus eleifend, eget consectetur velit commodo.

★★★★☆ based on 42 reviews

www.techstore.com/product/gizmo-5000


Markup & Targeting





Things that impact the user experience:

Keywords in headings•

Images•

Keywords in body copy•

Ratings & Reviews


Markup & Targeting





Things that impact the user experience:

Keywords in headings•

Images•

Keywords in body copy•

Ratings & Reviews

Things that theusers can’t see:

Keywords in title tag•

Keywords in URL•

Meta description•

OG Tags•

Image alt tags•

Schema markup


Markup & Targeting


Markup & Targeting

Title tag ‘BreadcrumbList’ Markup

‘Offer’ Schema

Meta description

Table formatting

‘Name’ Markupin json-ld

‘AggregateRating’ schema


Markup & Targeting

www.google.com/search?q=college+rankings

Lists, tables and paragraphs can all appear here, but rely on

appropriate markup on your site.(Among other things)


Markup & Targeting

https://getstat.com/blog/featured-snippets/https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-from-start-to-finish

https://getstat.com/blog/featured-snippets/

https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-from-start-to-finish


Markup & Targeting

https://getstat.com/blog/featured-snippets/https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-from-start-to-finish

www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/value-un...

https://getstat.com/blog/featured-snippets/

https://moz.com/blog/featured-snippets-from-start-to-finish

Testing

Ranking Problem Algo changeRead some

article

Typical SEO Process



article

Make a proposal for SEO changes

Typical SEO Process



article


Debate it for a while

Typical SEO Process



article



Get asked to justify changes and estimate improvements

Typical SEO Process



article




Proposed changes added to development queue

Typical SEO Process



article




Proposed changes added to development queue

Changes implemented

Typical SEO Process


“You don't use scienceto show that you're right.

You use science to become right.”Randall Munroe

A New Approach


This is the graph we really care about


The ‘fans’ show margin of error


The test is significant when the fan crosses zero


In this case, it happened here:


1. Adding ALT tags2. Removing SEO category text3. Using JS to show content4. Adding structured data

“ALT tags on images are good for SEO” - Established Wisdom


We found adding ALT tags to images had no effect


How does SEO text on category pages perform?


E-commerce site #1 - No effect


E-commerce site #2: 3.1% increase in organic sessions


“We can render Javascript!” - Google


Javascript DisabledJavascript Enabled

What happens if your content is only visible with Javascript?


Making the content visible increased organic sessions by 6.2%


1. Adding ALT tags2. Removing SEO category text3. Using JS to show content4.Adding structured data

These category pages had lots of images and not much text


Add structured data to the category pages


Organic sessions increased by 11%


DistilledODN.com


Thank you!distilled.net/blogdistilled.net/odn

bit.ly/RobIGX

Rob [email protected]

@RobOusbey

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