When running an owned website, the most important thing to consider is SEO.
When it comes to SEO measures, we tend to focus on search engine compatibility, but we must not forget about the readers, the users.
Usability, which focuses on ease of use for users, is also attracting attention from an SEO perspective.
This time, we will learn about SEO measures with the theme of usability.
What is usability?
Usability refers to ease of use in a broad sense.
Content that takes usability into consideration is content that users can use easily and efficiently to achieve their goals.
Usability improves when the site has excellent functionality such as “the site is fast to display” and “the site is displayed stress-free on both PC and mobile”, and when the “site structure” such as categories and menus is well-organized. I’m going.
Usability is attracting attention from an SEO perspective
Users find sites with high usability easy to use and are more likely to visit the site repeatedly.
Users who are aware of usability will visit your site with purpose as repeat visitors, increasing the number of visits to your site and increasing the length of time they stay on your site.
As a result, search engines that analyze the data will recognize sites with high usability as “meaningful sites” for users, and are more likely to rank them higher.
Usability is a focus from an SEO perspective.
How Google thinks about users
The first item in Google’s “10 Truths,” which were formulated several years after the company was founded, is that “From the beginning, Google has put user convenience first.”
Furthermore, the first item in the basic policy of the “Webmaster Guidelines” indexed by Google is to “Create pages with the user’s convenience, not the search engine’s, as the top priority.”
The basis of SEO measures is to create a site that is highly evaluated by search engines.
A major pillar of Google’s philosophy is “user convenience.”
It can be said that improving usability is an essential issue for SEO measures.
Effects of improved usability on SEO
- Improving usability increases the number of user visits and the number of PVs.
- As the number of repeat visitors increases, the bounce rate decreases and session duration increases.
- As your user rating increases, your Google rating will also increase, and you will be able to improve your search rankings.
Usability measures from an SEO perspective
Usability measures from an SEO perspective include functional aspects such as “increasing the display speed of the site” and “making it appear stress-free on both PC and mobile” and organizing the “site structure” such as categories and menus.
Increase page speed
The page selected from the search engine is displayed quickly, and the ability to reach the desired page within the site without stress greatly increases usability.
Specifically, you can speed up page display speed by compressing images and text files.
Enhance mobile compatibility
Searches on the web have shifted from computers to mobile devices.
Looking at the number of searches, there are more mobile searches than PC searches, so it is imperative that your site is mobile-friendly.
Some videos that can be played on a computer cannot be played on a mobile device.
Also, when viewing on a mobile screen, fonts and line spacing may need to be adjusted as they become difficult to read.
It is expected that users’ stress will increase, so it is necessary to take measures.
Create a site structure that takes usability into consideration
When users visit a site, the structure of the site has a large impact on why they find the content easy to use and efficient.
Users visiting your site use the menu bar and categories to find article pages.
To improve usability, you need to put yourself in the user’s shoes and design your site by organizing the menu bar and categories in an easy-to-understand manner.
Specifically, be aware of what kind of information you can get on what kind of sites.
It is also effective to include two or three keywords in the title of the article page, referring to suggested keywords that are frequently searched by users.
The basic structure of an owned site is to decide what kind of action you want users to take using the content, but if you don’t take usability into consideration, it will be difficult to attract users.
summary
◆ When it comes to SEO, you must not forget about the users who are your readers.
◆Usability with user-friendliness in mind is attracting attention from an SEO perspective as well.
◆ Content that takes usability into consideration is content that users can use easily and efficiently to achieve their goals.
◆The main pillar of Google’s philosophy is “user convenience”
◆As user ratings increase, Google’s ratings also increase, raising search rankings.
◆ Usability measures from an SEO perspective include “increasing page display speed,” “enhancing mobile compatibility,” and “configuring the site with usability in mind.”