The human side of SEO

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Lorena Ellis
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1 The human side of SEO How to take a more human-centred approach to improving your SEO efforts Emily Gorman Podcamp Halifax 2018

2 Emily Gorman 2

3 What is SEO, anyways? Optimizing your content to rank higher, ideally on page 1, in search results in hopes of gaining more, quality organic traffic. The success of your content hinges upon whether people can find it. Quality Relevance 3

4 Why does SEO matter? At least 71% of clicks go to the first page of search results For search results pages with no ads, the average click through rate for the first organic result is 30%, but that drops to 17.9% when there are ads

5 What impacts SEO rankings? All too often SEO is approached through a scientific or mathematical lens with the sole aim of ranking higher in organic results. The standard approach: keywords + meta descriptions + title tags = higher rankings 5

6 What impacts SEO rankings? All too often SEO is approached through a scientific or mathematical lens with the sole aim of ranking higher in organic results. The standard approach: keywords + meta descriptions + title tags = higher rankings The human approach: usability + user experience + accessibility = more meaningful interactions 6

7 What impacts SEO rankings? All too often SEO is approached through a scientific or mathematical lens with the sole aim of ranking higher in organic results. The standard approach: keywords + meta descriptions + title tags = higher rankings The human approach: usability + user experience + accessibility = more meaningful interactions Can the user accomplish their goal? 7

8 What impacts SEO rankings? All too often SEO is approached through a scientific or mathematical lens with the sole aim of ranking higher in organic results. The standard approach: keywords + meta descriptions + title tags = higher rankings The human approach: usability + user experience + accessibility = more meaningful interactions Did the user have as delightful an experience as possible accomplishing their goal? 8

9 What impacts SEO rankings? All too often SEO is approached through a scientific or mathematical lens with the sole aim of ranking higher in organic results. The standard approach: keywords + meta descriptions + title tags = higher rankings The human approach: usability + user experience + accessibility = more meaningful interactions Do all users have equal access to information and functionality? 9

Google s algorithms Google s algorithms rely on more than 200 unique signals or

1 PANDA HUMMINGBIRD MOBILE FRIENDLY RANKBRAIN Duplication Plagiarism Keyword

https://www.google.ca/insidesearch/howsearchworks/algorithms.html 2.

10 Google s algorithms Google s algorithms rely on more than 200 unique signals or clues that make it possible to guess what someone might really be looking for.1 PANDA HUMMINGBIRD MOBILE FRIENDLY RANKBRAIN Duplication Plagiarism Keyword stuffing Concepts > Keywords Responsive website Bounce rates Visit duration

11 How can we create more meaningful interactions?

12 Form Labels and Errors URL Paths Abbreviations Responsive build Readability Information Architecture Site Structure How can we create more meaningful interactions? Hyperlinks Colour Contrast Content Formatting Text Alternatives File Naming Conventions Intuitive Functionality Page Speed

13 Form Labels and Errors URL Paths Abbreviations Responsive build Readability Information Architecture Site Structure How can we create more meaningful interactions? Hyperlinks Colour Contrast Content Formatting Text Alternatives File Naming Conventions Intuitive Functionality Page Speed

14 Site Structure 14

15 Site Structure 15

16 Site Structure When you take away the visual appeal, good website design is fundamentally about a great structure. A strong and logical site structure is cognitively satisfying for users. An accurate site structure can reduce bounce rates and improve time spent on the website; both metrics lead to improved rankings. A clear site structure makes it easier for a search engine to access and index the content. The better your site structure, the better your chance of higher ranking in results. 16

17 Site Structure 1. Plan out your hierarchy - logical, no more than 7, balance subpages Activities: card sorting, tree testing, etc. 2. Keep it shallow - three or fewer clicks to reach every page 3. Make sure every page has a parent 4. Test it with your users 17

18 Readability 18

19 Readability 19

20 Readability If your content isn t friendly for the audience, it doesn t matter how witty it is, the message wont get across. Users want to quickly scan your site and identify relevant aspects to quickly find what they are looking for. Your visitors will only read up to 28% of the words on your site

21 Readability 1. Use plain language, remove the fluff - grade 8 (Online tool: Hemmingway App to see the grade level of your content) 2. Clear formatting - headings, lists, length, hyperlinks 3. Choose a font that is easily scannable, size matters (Standard sans serif fonts are easily readable on the web i.e. Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, Lucida Sans, and Verdana) 4. Make sure there is enough contrast - colour and imagery (Online tool: WebAIM Colour Contrast Checker to see if you meet accessibility standards) 21

22 Hyperlinks 22

23 Hyperlinks 23

24 Hyperlinks Links are the most basic interactive component. Good hyperlinks should be distinctive from other types of text on a page. Even when the links visually stand out, they need to be meaningful to be helpful. It really backfires to draw people s eyes to something irrelevant. For visually impaired users who use a screen reader, they can get an overview of a page by tabbing through links on a page. 24

25 Hyperlinks 1. Use descriptive link text - no more click here and learn more 2. Blue underlined hyperlinks 3. Regularly check for broken links (Online tool: PowerMapper to check an entire site and find broken links) 4. Link to other credible resources 25

26 URL Paths 26

27 URL Paths 27

28 URL Paths A well-crafted URL provides both humans and search engines an easy-to-understand indication of what the destination page will be about. Even if the title tag of this page were hidden, the URL should still provide a clear idea of what the destination page is about. URLs are a minor ranking factor when determining a relevance to a search, but they do act as a first impression opportunity for the searcher. 28

29 URL Paths 1. Follow the site hierarchy 2. Use real words and keywords, reduce punctuation and stop words Stop words: and, or, but, of, the, an, a, etc. 3. Use hyphens as word separators 4. Be concise 29

30 When will you see SEO ranking improvements?

31 When will you see SEO ranking improvements? Long-term process, not an overnight success

32 Questions? Thank you

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