Is your website experienced?

We’ve been writing a lot about Google this week. As we identified a little ways back, search engine optimization is a crucial element of effective marketing for 2021.

Today, we want to focus on page experience, which might seem a bit backward. Don’t you have to get people to your site via Google before you worry about their experience?

Not anymore.

In May, Google provided an update where they highlighted the important role that Page Experience would play in your website’s ranking:

Great page experiences enable people to get more done and engage more deeply; in contrast, a bad page experience could stand in the way of a person being able to find the valuable information on a page. By adding page experience to the hundreds of signals that Google considers when ranking search results, we aim to help people more easily access the information and web pages they’re looking for, and support site owners in providing an experience users enjoy.

There are lots of things that contribute to the experience a user has when they navigate your website. Here are a few.

Navigation

There’s nothing more frustrating than not being able to find what you’re looking for on a website. Not only is it a waste of time, but it’s also an infuriating experience (which is the opposite of what we’re aiming for).

One of the key trends in website design for 2021 that will help provide a positive experience is easy to use, minimalist navigation. Don’t give people a million choices they don’t require. Present them with the information they need and an obvious path to it from the start.

Avoid jargon

Keywords are important. But if that’s all that lives on your website, it won’t be very useful or enjoyable to visit.

We’ve talked about the importance of being plainspoken and easy to understand at the beginning of the pandemic. But keeping your content straightforward and easy to access is important overall advice to maximize your Page Experience.

Put people at ease

This might seem like odd advice. But it is striking how often people forget to lend a human lens that connects with users to their digital communications.

Whether it has to do with the value of your voice or using comforting colour schemes, building an engaging interface into your website that leaves users feeling at ease and understood will help improve your Page Experience and your Google Ranking.

For more insights into building a website that connects and caters to your audience’s needs, give us a call!