You have probably heard of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, before. It has been a key element in establishing an online presence, especially with Google’s recent updates.
It is the process of incorporating multiple strategies to make it easier for search engines to understand your web pages. The more a search engine understands your web page, the easier your web page is ranked and shown in search engine result pages.
So, what exactly is Search Experience Optimization and how is it different from SEO?
What Is SXO?
Search Experience Optimization (SXO) is the process of improving the user-end experience of conducting a search. It combines the elements of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and User Experience (UX) and optimizes the search experiences. This makes it easier for users and search engines to understand the content of a web page.
SXO focuses on making it easy for users to find the content that they need and in a form that is easy for them to understand and consume.
SEO mostly focuses on making the content of a web page optimized for search engines. It prioritizes making it easy for search engines to understand the content for search engines. SXO prioritizes making the experience easier for the users instead of optimizing for search engines.
Some argue that SXO has already been a part of basic SEO principles. After all, the use of keywords and making it easy for users to find the content they need has always been at the core of SEO. But some also argue that SXO is a whole new concept that stems from SEO.
Whatever the case, both of them help your web page become more visible in search engine results pages.
Metrics to Track for SXO?
The goal of SXO is to create content that satisfies the needs of the users. A good indicator of whether they’re satisfied or not is to check out the following metrics:
- Bounce Rate – This identifies the number of users who visit your website, but immediately leave without performing any actions. If you have a high bounce rate, it’s an indicator that users don’t really find what they’re looking for or have a hard time doing so. The goal is to have a low bounce rate.
- Click Through Rate – This metric identifies how many people clicked the link on the search engine result pages, so they end up on your page. You can use Google Search Console to find your click-through rate (CTR). If your CTR is low, you might have a problem with meta tags, ads, or content. The goal is to have a high CTR.
- Conversion Rates – This metric focuses on how many visitors you have converted to customers. The goal is to get a high conversion rate because this means that your SXO strategy to bring content that users are looking for is working well.
- Time on Page – This is the average time spent by users on your web page. If you have high-quality content that caters to the needs of users, they’ll spend more time on your page. They’ll even go to other web pages of your website to find out more if you pique their interest. This metric will give you a better understanding of how effective your SXO strategies are.
How to Improve SXO?
Improving your website’s SXO can help you gain more loyal followers and make it easier for search engines to understand your page. You’re hitting 2 birds with one stone with SXO. But how exactly can you do it? Here are a few tips that you can follow to improve on your SXO.
Make Sure Your Website has an Intuitive Design
The very core of SXO is to make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. A big part of this is determined by how easy it is to navigate your website and find content.
Users should be able to navigate their way around your website without getting confused about how they can find what they’re looking for. Your search bar should be visible, navigation panels should be clearly displayed, and your call to action should be highlighted.
Optimize for Mobile
Since the first quarter of 2017, mobile phones accounted for half of the web traffic online. By 2020, this became a permanent trend with mobile users constituting half of the global population of internet users. By the second quarter of 2022, this has grown to 58.99%.
The trend has been growing consistently so far so it’s expected to only keep growing in the future. With that in mind, it’s important to optimize your website for mobile users. Your website must have a mobile responsive design. All the elements must respond properly and the design must fit the screen of mobile phones.
Speed Up Page Loading Time
According to Google, speed is now used as a ranking factor for mobile searches. Users want answers to their questions and they want them fast. For mobile pages, it only takes 3 seconds before users abandon them.
If a user finds that your web page loads too slowly, they’re likely to go away. This increases your bounce rate. If your page loads for more than 1 to 3 seconds, the probability of a user bouncing increases to 32%. If it reaches 5 seconds, this skyrockets to a whopping 90%. This ultimately affects not only your SXO, but also your SEO.
To help reduce your loading time, here are a few things that you can do:
- Compress and optimize your images.
- Avoid using larger images.
- Use HTTP Compression.
- Minimize HTTP requests.
- Avoid or reduce redirects.
- Enable browser caching.
- Cache your web pages.
- Remove unnecessary plugins.
Make it Easy to Navigate Your Content
Content is still a pretty integral part of your SXO. Informative and easy-to-understand content will encourage your visitors to engage and ultimately come back to your websites.
Aside from that, it’s important to consistently publish high-quality and helpful content. This helps your blog grow and bring in more organic traffic to your website.
Once you’ve created a wide collection of content, it’s important to make it easy for your visitors to find specific content. Make sure that you add a search bar on your blog, so users can find content quickly and efficiently. Also, consider adding a table of contents for each of your articles. This makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for and jump to the part they need.
Don’t Forget Meta Description and Meta Tags
A meta description is a short summary of what users can expect when they open the link they see in search engine result pages. It helps both search engines and users better understand your web pages. It also encourages users to click on your web page especially if it is exactly what they’re looking for.
As for meta tags, they’re also snippets of a page’s content but in the page’s source code. These are made to help search engines understand what a web page is about.
Consider Using a Chatbot
Numerous visitors or customers can easily figure out what they need and how to find what they need. But sadly, this isn’t true for some users.
A customer support team would be a good solution, but it can be considerably expensive and it can’t operate 24/7. A chatbot can be beneficial because it has the following benefits:
- It can provide instant assistance.
- It can operate 24/7.
- It does not need rest.
- It saves you time and money.
- It offers a smoother customer experience.
- It constantly gets better with machine learning.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the five key components of Digital Marketing?
Universally, the five key components of Digital Marketing are Content Strategy, Customer Experience or Search Experience, Content Creation, Channel Promotion, and Check-Back Analysis.
Why is Search UX important?
Search UX provides users information and a platform to visually see products and responses to their search queries. A good UX for browsing and searches improves visitor traffic rate and overall site reputation. This is a very important criterion in search engine ranking methods.
What makes a good search bar?
Rounded corners, contrasting background, and a good line height make a great search bar. An addition of a search button will make it very helpful for users to utilize the function on your web page.
Optimizing Your SXO
Search Experience Optimization may be a fairly new concept to you. It can be scary to think that you might need to make a lot of changes to make your website user-centered instead of search engine centered. But, if you really sit down and think about it, SEO and SXO are fairly similar. They both aim to create high-quality and helpful content that is easy to find and understand.
If you’ve been optimizing your web pages for SEO chances are you only need to make small changes to optimize them for SXO. At the end of the day, a good rule of thumb to follow is to make it easier for users to find your content and consume it.
