SEO Content Tip: Is Your Website Frustrating People? Google Is Watching
While absorbing Google Search Central’s resource for any new tidbits of information on Google’s next update, we came across an article on user experience.
Not new, we know, but there will be another update from Google very soon that continues to seek the least frustrating website experiences as a preference for people searching.
SEO content: bad content journeys
It struck us that many of the conversations we’ve been having with clients lately have been about how Google views a website.
When was the last time you had a click around the website? Is it a good experience or frustrating? Whether you’re a CEO or marketing trainee, have a click.
Search-optimised content won’t perform as well if your website’s user journey is frustrating, your website is slow, or if a high percentage of people leave the homepage without clicking further -- Google is logging every click.
SEO content: how to improve your user journey
In addition to having a click around your website on a desktop and mobile to see how frustrating it is, you can use Google Analytics.
Try clicking on the ‘behaviour flow’ tab to see where your new visitors are travelling around your site and how many of them are leaving straight from the homepage (drop-off rate).
Google remembers sites with a high drop-off rate and sees this as a no-go for directing new visitors when combined with other factors.
Check your website loading speed, as this is seen as a significant frustration factor by Google. There is a correlation between slow sites and their drop-off rate, so they assume fast sites will be less annoying.
You can improve speed by:
Removing any unused code (a web developer can do this).
Reducing the size of your images or hosting them externally.
Ensuring any datasets or clever apps don’t slow the pages down.
You can improve the drop-off rate by:
Trying to take your reader to the next best logical step. Try looking at competitors that rank higher than you on Google -- what do they do differently?
Readers are often looking to read further and establish trust -- they also need a clear route to find out more and get in touch.
MPH Copywriting has a proven track record of increasing website traffic with SEO content that targets keywords. We also analyse your website’s issues, including anything that might frustrate a potential customer.
Click here to see how we can help you get more website traffic with SEO content.