Brands Need to Make UX a Priority as Google Algorithm Ever Changing

December 8th, 2020 | by: Steve Pollack | Posted in : Customer Service , Marketing, New Technology, Websites, Digital Trends

Brands Need to Make UX a Priority as Google Algorithm Ever Changing

In June Google announced that user experience (UX) will factor significantly into their site rankings starting in 2021. Google is calling this the Page Experience signal, keep in mind Page Experience is a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its pure information value. This move aims to level the playing field so that the Davids can be at the top of the page with the Goliaths. Great news if you had been considering ramping up your site’s UX. 

So, let’s take a look at how UX is changing the digital landscape, and what can be done to keep up with the new page experience as it will join the hundreds of signals that Google considers when generating Search results.

The UX Hook

It is possible that UX could make or break your business. Research shows that strong UX design yields conversion rates up to 400% plus we all like nice simple and easy to navigate websites. And it’s especially important in this  pandemic era, where many companies were forced to change the way they operate to be more online and keeping digital visitors happy. 

SM Sold believes in good UX, that it creates an emotional connection with visitors. “A well thought out and designed UX is a web interface that you enjoy using,” says Managing Director, Steve Pollack, “includes a consistent look, feel, branded quality, with sound animation and page speed. All in all it makes the experience more memorable.” 

Where UX is Trending

Google’s Material wows with realistic effect, and animation for onscreen touch experiences. The bits of information that guide a user through a particular experience like filling out a form—while not particularly sexy, help keep a user’s frustrations at bay. User experience continues to gain traction, the industry keeps widening its capabilities—and surprising, delighting, and informing customers.

Three key trends for good SEO friendly SEO: designing for transparency in a post-deep fake world; finding micro design communities outside of Design Twitter and Reddit, which are too huge to be effective; and spending less time designing additional components for a system and more time understanding the system behind the design.

Boosting Your UX IQ

So UX is critical and design trends are shifting, but let’s get back to that Google rankings change that’s going to be here in 2021. What, according to the Google algorithm, constitutes a good user experience on a site? Reviewing Google’s documentation, there are the basics such as, mobile-friendly, fast loading, content jumping around and no annoying ads.

Here are five steps that we recommend brands take to get prepared. Everything from reducing 404 errors to comparing your experience to your competitors to finding usability issues through heat maps. Heat maps show where users are clicking, so if you see a heat cluster on an image that isn’t clickable.

Getting back to Google they have tools to get the job done. PageSpeed Insights incorporates the new metrics, the Chrome User Experience Report API gives you 28 days of historical data for your URLs, and the Core Web Vitals Report will summarize how your site is performing.

Ok Who’s Doing All This

Getting UX up to standard is no easy feat. Having sound UX talent that know SEO is fundamental to ensuring the whole thing works. UX is a key role in driving hypergrowth for companies this year.  

You have to believe that the majority of the marketing and creative leaders believe one of their biggest challenges is trying to fill these roles. This is interesting given that most  top executives say that the customer experience, which goes hand-in-hand with user experience, is critical to growth. So in conclusion Google’s updated algorithm means UX talent are vital to driving hypergrowth. So after 20+ years of changing the world, Google’s about to do it again. Opportunities galore for brands respond to their new rankings system—and how customer behaviors respond.

Since SEO is ever-evolving, it’s essential for you to stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and strategies. By doing so, you can meet and even exceed your business goals. From Custom Branded Websites to Social Media Marketing, let us help you. Call us today at 949.396.2906 to find out how we can help you.