More and more, it’s becoming apparent how much website usability and search go hand-in-hand. You can’t have great search visibility without great usability; and no one will know your site has great usability without great search visibility. At this point, the two are so intertwined, it’s difficult to separate them; but let’s give it a go with some important usability rules for search:

Information Architecture

If you haven’t built your website yet…

Great! Stop right now.

Do you have a site outline yet? You’ll need to document exactly how your navigation structure is going to be set up.

Now you have an outline…does it make sense? Maybe to you, but why not test it out? Get feedback from anyone you can: your coworkers,your customers, your family, your friends. Ask, “if this was your website, how would you set it up?” and “If you came to this website, does this outline make sense?” You’ll have a proper site outline in no time.

If you already have a website built…

Don’t panic. You may very well already have a fantastic, easy-to-understand information architecture.

How can you tell? Check your bounce rate. This might be a clue as to who lands on one page of your website, gets confused, gives up, and just leaves (essentially “bounces”). If your bounce rate is high (I’m talking really high – greater than 90% high), it might be worth taking a look at other stats to make sure it’s your navigation to blame. If it is, it might be worth a navigation revamp – a pretty hefty undertaking; where a complete site overhaul might be in order. Regardless, either option will make a drastic improvement if navigation is to blame.

Call-to-action

Gone are the days of the online brochure. Your website needs to have a purpose: what do you want people to do on your website? Do you want them to call you? Email you? Fill out a form? Sign up for your email newsletter? Buy something? Make your call-to-action big, bold, and obvious. Subtlety doesn’t pay in a fast-paced web surfer world.

Think of every page as a landing page

By default, most of us think our visitors will start on our homepage, then travel through the rest of the website in order – reading every word we wrote – just as we planned it. I hate to burst your bubble, but people start in the middle of your website, skip around, and leave before you want them to. [Acceptance is the first step.]

So, as you plan your pages and write the copy; think: what if this is the very first page someone sees of my website? (That’s why the *cough* call-to-action is so important.)

By keeping these usability tips in mind as you plan – or revamp – your website, you’re already on the road to better search engine visibility.

Nicki Hicks
Usability is as usability does

I work with a lot of small businesses. As such, small businesses owners typically don’t have a) the budget or b) the time to deal with A/B (or split) testing. Google Analytics Site Overlay of course can’t do what a comprehensive A/B test could, but it can convince a client to place links or call-to-actions above the fold, change keywords or link language, and more.

Using Site Overlay you can see where people click and, more importantly for this little experiment, where they don’t.

The fact of the matter is Site Overlay is extremely helpful when it comes to usability…and that’s half the battle! How do you balance SEO and usability?

Design

• Is your design graphically enticing, while not too overpowering?
• Does your site architecture make sense to search bots and humans?
• Do you have more than 8 elements in your navigation? [We recommend 7-8, max.]

Content

• Do you have enough copy? Are you saying everything that needs to be said?
• Are you going overboard with copy and blabbing on and on?
• Is your copy set up to promote reading? (Is it in one black and white blob without spaces, bold and italicized words, bullets, or headers?)
• Are there links sprinkled throughout the copy? Are they helpful? Do they make sense?

Call-to-action

• Is your call-to-action hiding below the fold where few will see it?
• Is there a big, bold graphic that attracts attention?
• How about some enticing copy to get readers to sign up/buy/etc.?

These are just a few of many recognized usability guidelines; many of which GA site overlay can help with. I think the best tip is: think of yourself as the potential customer. What would you be looking for in the website? What would you expect?

Nicki Hicks
SEO for Usability