The Importance of Website Usability for SEO Success

Website Usability and SEO

Website usability has a major impact on your SEO success. Some of the ways it impacts SEO includes:

• Page Speed – When your website page goes from one to ten seconds to load, it can increase your bounce rate by more than 100%. Faster loading times is a major website usability factor, which helps to reduce bounce rates and improve your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs)
• Mobile Friendly – More than sixty percent of online searches now come from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). Google uses mobile-friendliness and a ranking factor, and recently announced Mobile-First Indexing. This means having a mobile-friendly or responsive web design isn't a suggestion, it's a necessity to improve ranking and user experience
• Dwell Times and Bounce Rates – Websites that offer seamless navigation, complete with high quality and relevant content tend to have a lower bounce rate and higher dwell time, compared to websites that are difficult to navigate with low quality content. These factors directly infleunce your ranking, as Google sees them as indicators on your relevance and site value. Remember, you need to be able to offer your users value, while ensuring they can navigate your website with ease
• Accessible – In today's digital world, it's imperative to ensure all website visitors have access to your website, this includes those with disabilities. When you make your site accessible and inclusive, it boosts usability, providing an excellent user experience

How to Improve Website Usability

In order to improve website usability you want to focus on creating a user-centred design. This means simplifying the site structure, speeding up your page loading times, and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly. Don't forget to publish high quality, unique, and relevant content that aligns with Google's E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) principle.

Is Website Usability a Ranking Factor?

Google has not stated that usability has a direct impact on ranking, but there are many elements associated with usability that will impact your ranking on SERPs, such as page speed and mobile-friendliness. When you provide good usability, you reduce bounce rates and improve dwell time, both of which do have a positive impact on your SEO success.

Conclusion

Site usability is more than simply functionality and aesthetics, it's about providing your website visitors with a great and seamless experience. Competition to gain the attention of audiences online is fierce and users have less patience, as they expect the information they are looking for to be delivered to their screen within a few seconds. Ignoring website usability can have negative impact on your SEO efforts. Are you struggling with high bounce rates, low dwell times, slow loading website pages, or you are not sure how to improve your website structure for seamless navigation? Get in touch with Genie Crawl today. We have a talented team ready to help you improve your website usability without delay.