We all know that search engines continuously evolve to serve their users. The current frenzy around Google’s Page Experience update is evidence enough of this. Though we might busy ourselves with striving for the elusive ‘page speed green’, there lies a deeper chasm that’s holding many of us back from achieving the golden standard of ‘user first’: nailing the balance between delivering an incredible user experience on our websites, and making them work for SEO. In this talk, Luci provides actionable tips to use UX to your advantage to drive the implementation of SEO strategies. Essentially, adding the UX string to your SEO bow to help you do your job a little bit better!

1. Adding a UX string to
your SEO bow
Luci Wood | Blue Array
slideshare.net/LucindaWoodDipDigMMI
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2. ‘Adding a UX string to your bow’
Having an alternative
means of reaching
your desired target.
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3. What we’ll be covering
● The closing gap between SEO
and UX
● The UX honeycomb
● What makes a good page?
● Accessibility considerations
● SEO friendly A/B Testing
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4. When was the last time
you felt really excited
about something?
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5. When was the last time
you felt really excited
about something?
Why were you
excited about it?
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6. In most cases, you’re
excited for the
experience of doing
these things.
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7. Money
Love
Dogs
Experiences make the world go round.
Ok, maybe also dogs.
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8. As SEOs, we sometimes
focus on helping people
find a destination...
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9. ... but not so much on their
experience once they get there!
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10. ```
The age-old* battle
*Don Norman coined the term
“user experience” in 1993, 5 years
before Google was founded!
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11. SEO team
Search friendly
site structure
Compressed images
Optimised content
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12. UX team
SPAs
No navigation bar
Background hero videos
Infinite scroll
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13. The days of SEO
vs. UX are gone.
We’re more
intertwined than
ever.
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14. “You should build a
website to benefit your
users, and gear any
optimization toward
making the user
experience better...”
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15. “...One of those users is a
search engine, which helps
other users discover your
content.”
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16. How can we apply
UX thinking to
our SEO
approach?
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17. VALUABLE
FINDABLE
USABLE
USEFUL
DESIRABLE
CREDIBLE
ACCESSIBLE
UX honeycomb
Peter Morville
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18. SEO honeycomb
10X
CONTENT
CRAWLABLE
NAVIGABLE
RELEVANT
WELL
LINKED
TO
E-A-T
INDEXABLE
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19. @incorgnito_mode
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The Page
Experience
update

20. @incorgnito_mode
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21. @incorgnito_mode
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22. But let’s not forget
that Core Web Vitals is
not the only element
of the page experience
update.
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23. What else makes
up a good page
for users?
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24. Performance
Page speed
Rendering
Server responses
Redirects
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25. Security
Privacy
HTTPS
Safe browsing
Data security
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26. Usability &
navigation
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27. Can I find
what I need,
easily and
quickly....
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28. … as a user
or a bot?

29. A few tools for
IA auditing and
planning…
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30. Draw.io
Draw.io
Free? Yep
Useful for: Simple, fuss-free planning
Cool features? Heaps of chart templates
Integrates with Google
Drive & Atlassian
Thanks @neil_mchugh for the suggestions!
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31. Dynomapper
Dynomapper
Free? Free trial
Useful for: IA auditing - pulls in GA data
Cool features? Content planning, keyword
tracking & accessibility
testing @incorgnito_mode
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32. Omnigraffle
Omnigraffle
Free? From $12.49/month
Useful for: Diagramming
Rapid prototyping
Cool features? Intelligent grouping,
snapping, and alignment
tools @incorgnito_mode
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33. The good old fashioned way
Pen & paper/spreadsheet
Free? Of course
Useful for: Kinesthetic thinkers
Luddites
Cool features? Much more flexibility
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34. @incorgnito_mode
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Relevance &
audience
understanding

35. Where does your audience hang out
online and why?
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Entertainment
News
Forums
Social media
UGC sites
Gaming
Shopping
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36. Google Analytics
Demographics
Technology
Audience interests
Internal Search
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37. YouGov Audience Explorer
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Get insights into opinions
and brand affinities,
behaviors, media
consumption, hobbies and
interests for your desired
audience.

38. Content & E-A-T
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39. Don’t design first and
worry about copy and
images later
SEO isn’t linear
Let your user guide you
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40. Do some keyword, intent
& competitor research
🤔 I want to know
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41. Do some keyword, intent
& competitor research
🤔 I want to know
🚙 I want to go
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42. Do some keyword, intent
& competitor research
🤔 I want to know
🚙 I want to go
🍻 I want to do
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43. Do some keyword, intent
& competitor research
🤔 I want to know
🚙 I want to go
🍻 I want to do
🛍 I want to buy
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44. Do some SERP research
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45. Do some SERP research
📝 Featured snippets
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46. Do some SERP research
📝 Featured snippets
🤔 PAAs
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47. Do some SERP research
📝 Featured snippets
🤔 PAAs
🔎 Who’s ranking?
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48. Do some SERP research
📝 Featured snippets
🤔 PAAs
🔎 Who’s ranking?
💬 Auto suggest
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49. Is the language and
tone right for the
audience?
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50. Those sites they visit?
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🗣 Tone of voice

51. Those sites they visit?
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🗣 Tone of voice
👀 Topics of interest

52. Those sites they visit?
🗣 Tone of voice
👀 Topics of interest
👍 Reactions/ responses
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53. Aka separating the
gems from the
disgruntled pelicans
⭐Reviews ⭐
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54. Identify the gaps in
informing and
persuading the
buyer
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55. 🎾 Discover
alternative uses
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^ 12/10 ballie skillz

56. 󰠗 Tackle duplication
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firebox.com

57. Accessibility
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58. The good news
We do know
accessibility is
important
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@rvtheverett

59. The bad news
Alt tags
Image captions
Anchor text
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60. Unpacking
accessibility
Who?
What?
Why?
How?
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61. Who...
Language
Individual needs
& challenges
Include in personas,
user archetypes and stories
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62. What...
Know/Go/Do/Buy
Content types
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63. Why...
Situation
> Temporary or permanent?
Digital access
Data limitations
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64. How...
Navigation
Technology
Device types
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65. Stepping into
another’s shoes...
empathyprompts.net
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66. Testing
(Not that kind of testing
😅😷)
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67. Pros of A/B testing
Easy to set up
Can help prove business case for bigger changes
Sometimes you can jump the dev queue
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68. @incorgnito_mode
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Cons
Most are CSR
If we want to determine the impact of a site change
for Google and its ranking algorithm, we only have
one user: Googlebot.
😷

69. Google’s web crawler (Googlebot) now
runs on the latest version of
Chromium
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��

70. “The same client-side coding mechanisms that
make user-focused A/B testing so easy to
implement can now be made available to SEO
A/B testers!” - Brandon Howell
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��

71. SplitSignal from SEMRush: A/B
split testing designed by SEOs.
These great articles from Brandon
Howell, Craig Bradford and
Rachel Costello
Things to go check out today if A/B testing is on
your radar:
��
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��

72. The non-ranking signal
signals
🏀 Bounce rate
🖱CTR
📄 Pages per session
🚌 Drop off points
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73. Let’s pack up
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74. “Users show they prefer sites with a great
page experience.
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75. “Users show they prefer sites with a great
page experience. In recent years, search has
added a variety of user experience criteria,
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76. “Users show they prefer sites with a great
page experience. In recent years, search has
added a variety of user experience criteria,
such as how quickly pages load and
mobile-friendliness,
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77. “Users show they prefer sites with a great
page experience. In recent years, search has
added a variety of user experience criteria,
such as how quickly pages load and
mobile-friendliness, as factors for ranking
results.”
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78. A rose by any
other name...
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79. Page Experience is
more than the
technical aspects of
Core Web Vitals
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80. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
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81. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
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82. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
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83. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
Privacy & Security
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84. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
Privacy & Security
Relevance
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85. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
Privacy & Security
Relevance
Testing & iteration
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86. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
Privacy & Security
Relevance
Testing & iteration
Usability
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87. What else makes up a good page?
Accessibility
Content & E-A-T
Performance
Privacy & Security
Relevance
Testing & iteration
Usability
User interface design
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88. “The best user experience is being
seen and acknowledged.
- Kim Krause Berg
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89. “The best user experience is being
seen and acknowledged.
We don’t often consider treating
website visitors as our guests.
A well-designed, functioning,
user-friendly, inclusive web page is a
sign of respect.”
- Kim Krause Berg
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90. Both bots and users are
our guests, let’s make
them feel welcome and
included, help them find
what they need, and give
them great experiences!
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91. That’s it from me!
💙Come say hi get some swag at
the stand! 👋
🐦Tweet me:
@incorgnito_mode
🤓📈 Search ‘Blue Array jobs’
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92. Adding a UX string to
your SEO bow
Luci Wood | Blue Array
slideshare.net/LucindaWoodDipDigMMI
@incorgnito_mode