Why Accessibility Matters for SEO and User Experience
Have you wondered why your website isn't getting the traffic it deserves? You are not alone. Did you know that more than sixteen million UK internet users have a disability? That's a lot of people that could be struggling to use your website because you have not made it accessible. Website accessibility should be a high priority to boost your SEO efforts, while providing a great user experience (UX).
Google doesn't say that accessibility is a ranking factor, but accessibility best practices align with what search engines prefer. The aim is to ensure the internet is accessible and enjoyable for everyone. This means using proper heading structures to help those using screen readers to navigate through your content seamlessly, while helping search engines understand your content.
Adding alt text to your images, is another good example of accessibility, which is valuable to those that cannot see the image. Alt text for images also provides search engines with context regarding your content.
Overall, website accessibility can improve your SEO through user engagement. When your website is easy for everyone to enjoy, visitors stay on your site longer, exploring more pages. This, in turn, reduces bounce rates and increases dwell time, both of which are positive signals for search engines, telling them that your website offers valuable information.
In the UK, accessibility is covered under the Equality Act 2010. This encourages website owners to make responsible adjustments to their sites accessibility, accommodating website visitors with disabilities. By following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, you can ensure compliance.
Accessible websites offer easy navigation that is natural and seamless. The makes it easy for everyone to use, regardless of their ability or the device they use. This means following POUR principles:
Create a clean and intuitive layout with consistent navigation and clear visual hierarchy. Choose a responsive design that enables mobile users to visit your pages with ease without having to pinch and zoom to try and see what is on your website pages.
Page titles should be descriptive and unique without keyword stuffing. Titles should be less than sixty characters and include your targeted keyword naturally. You should also include schema mark-up for additional context.
Headings should have a logical structure, creating clear content hierarchy. Use your targeted keywords in headings and subheadings.
Provide descriptive and concise alt text to images enabling those with disabilities to understand the context of the image.
Anchor text should be descriptive, indicating the link's destination. Do not use generic phrases. The link should be distinguishable from the rest of the text. This can be achieved by underlining it or changing the colour, enabling everyone to see it, including those with colour blindness.
Meta descriptions should be relevant and unique of no more than one hundred and sixty characters using your targeted keyword. These descriptions are a summary of your web page that appear in search results. It helps users and search engines understand the content of your page.
Multimedia has grown in popularity and it improves engagement, but at the same time, it can hinder the experience if it isn't accessible. Provide transcripts for videos, helping those that are deaf or hard of hearing to be able to watch the video without sound. Transcripts are valuable for SEO, giving search engines more text to index.
When it comes to your website design, it's important to remember that accessibility matters, both for SEO and User Experience (UX). It's important to ensure your website is accessible to all your potential customers, including those with disabilities. Do you need help creating an accessible website? Get in touch with the Genie Crawl team today.
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