What is UX/UI? Learn Its Definition and How It Affects SEO

While UX/UI plays an essential part in website development, those who aren’t web developers may still need to understand what they are and how they differ. To be clear, while UX and UI go hand in hand, they are not the same. 

This article will help you understand UX/UI and the vital role it plays in website development.

What Is UX/UI?

Definition of UX

UX stands for User Experience, in other words, a website’s usability and accessibility. It usually refers to the engagement between the users and a particular website. UX indicates to what extent users feel satisfied or have a positive experience on a website. A site visitor’s user experience can result from UI or User Interface, which we will elaborate on in the next part.

 UX indicators

• Bounce Rate represents the percentage of users who land on a website and leave right away. Therefore, the lower the bounce rate is, the better. However, the bounce rate also depends on the content of the page and the user’s intent. For instance, the bounce rate of a blog post may be higher than the services or products page if the visitors have a high purchase intent.
• Page per Session refers to the number of pages users visit each time they enter the website. Generally, the higher page per session, the better. However, be careful about unclear CTAs (call-to-action), which can cause Google Bot to think the website attracts visitors to the wrong page.

• Dwell Time (Session Duration, Time on Page) represents the time duration users spent on each page (Time on Page) or each visit (Session Duration). The higher the dwell time, the better—it means the content on your website benefits users.
• Page Speed refers to the website’s loading speed. The faster the page speed, the quicker users can access your website. In other words, the less time it takes to load the page, the better your website’s UX is.

Definition of UI

UI stands for User Interface. It involves elements that users interact with directly, such as the website design, colour, format, font size, text, and page layout style. For a positive user experience, a website’s user interface needs to have a user-centric design. Therefore, the website design should be appealing and user-friendly.

UI indicators

• Comprehensible website page layout that’s easy to navigate.
• The graphic design of the page is appealing to users.
• Website design effectively communicates the page’s purpose.
• Presentation of relevant and quality content.

Differences between UX/UI

UX and UI go hand in hand in website development. For instance, an unappealing website, or a website that’s attractive but hard to navigate, will not provide a good experience. Therefore, UX/UI designers play an important role during the website development process.

In general, UX designers allow visitors to use the site easily. Meanwhile, UI designers focus on the look that makes the site appealing. If your website has good UX and UI, it increases the opportunity to rank higher on search engines. 

How UX/UI Benefits SEO

Positive user experience and effective website design affect a site’s Google ranking. As such, SEO, or search engine optimisation is important to UX/UI. Performing SEO is still a popular strategy for many businesses that want their websites to rank on the first search result page, and UX/UI is one factor determining the SEO performance.

UX Strategies for Effective SEO

Create a website structure for SEO and UX

• Consider the needs of different user journeys. Address the questions or concerns of users throughout the sales funnel, from those who have no or little knowledge of your brand to those who are interested in learning more about your brand and those who already intend to avail your product or service. It may involve inbound marketing and content marketing tools that can help drive traffic to your site. 
• Create a website structure that’s as simple as possible. User-friendly website design enables users to navigate easily throughout the site and access their desired page quickly and conveniently.
• Stick to universal language for the navigation bar and avoid technical terms that general visitors may not be familiar with. Minimise confusion by using clear and easily recognisable words and text.

Optimise your website performance

• Reduce your page speed load time as much as possible to prevent users from bouncing. You may need to consider what graphic elements and effects to use to ensure they don’t disrupt the visitor’s experience. 
• Prioritise the mobile experience as users often also browse websites from devices other than desktops. Make sure to test the UX/UI of the site using various devices during development. 
• Provide a user-friendly format, including content layout design and font. Use proper content prioritisation and curate content for the target audience. 

Maintain a good balance between SEO and UX

• Be sure that appropriate branding in strategic areas is a priority to build the authority and credibility of your site.
• Create quality content that creates value. When curating content, prioritise those that will be genuinely helpful for your audiences to increase user engagement and improve site performance.

UI Strategies for Effective SEO

• Visibility of system status. Communicate system changes and updates to users to build trust and confidence. Make sure that your message is clear and delivered in a consistent voice.  
• System adaptability to the real world. The site UI should be designed based on what users are already familiar with or something they regularly see to make it easy to use. A practical example is using common words used in daily life instead of technical terms on-site text.
• User control and freedom. The UI design should allow users to go back or cancel if they make some errors on the website.
• Consistency and standards. This refers to the coherent UI design, including colour tone, font, button styles, and other graphic elements that should be applied consistently throughout the site.
• Aesthetic and minimalist design. Design the website to be simple and comfortable for the readers’ eyes so that it will be easier to navigate.
• Recognition and recall. Utilise elements that are easily recognisable to users. Offer convenient features such as product categories, showing previously viewed products, or providing a summary of all products users have bought.
• Flexibility and efficiency of use. Design the website to suit different levels of users–from beginners to pro users. Standard or general features can be available for beginner users, whereas pro-level users can access more advanced or customised features.
• Error prevention. Design your UI to prevent error results. This could be implemented by displaying reminders in red font when users don’t complete a form or having a pop-up reminder for users to check and confirm the correctness of the information entered.
• Diagnosis and recovery. If users encounter an error, an effective system should be able to identify and inform them and provide them with some guidance on how to fix it.
• Help and documentation. A website should provide an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section to help users with their concerns and inquiries. When appropriate, a chatbot can be added to answer users’ questions with set messages provided by the website admins.

What Does a UX/UI Designer Do? 

Now that you’ve learned what UX/UI is and how they differ, you may wonder: what is a UX/UI designer? Let’s explore what a UX/UI designer can do to make the UX/UI of a website support SEO performance.

Typically, a UX/UI designer’s job is to develop and design a website or application to suit the needs of both users and businesses through the use of skills and tools, and analysis of the target group’s needs.

UX Designer Responsibilities

The purpose of UX is to provide a positive experience for website users. Therefore, UX designers should understand what problems users face and what solutions they need that the website can provide.

UI Designer Responsibilities

UI is often a continuation of the part of UX with the purpose of using design to enable users to understand how to interact with the website. Hence, a UI designer must be able to use users’ information and needs to create a user-centric interface design.

The roles of a UX designer and a UI designer complement each other. Both roles can be performed by the same person or by separate teams, depending on the organisation needs. However, UX and UI designers must have knowledge of both areas to create a user-friendly, appealing, and effective website.

Summary

Achieving the goal of SEO performance goes beyond focus keywords. It involved website development that caters to users’ needs to provide effective UI and positive UX that will ultimately benefit the site’s performance results.

If you’re a brand owner seeking to improve your site’s performance, Primal Digital Agency is a comprehensive marketing agency that can help your brand grow using our integrated solutions. Contact us for a consultation today.