The Role of User Experience in SEO: Why Google Prioritizes Site Performance

“Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.”

— Robert L. Peters, Graphic Designer

SEO is the fundamental element when it comes to ranking on the search engine. People and developers pay a lot of attention to SEO because if your Search Engine Optimization is on point, your site will be on top.

But many factors contribute to a perfect SEO like keywords, backlinks, content quality, Meta description, anchor text, etc. One more factor that plays a major role is User Experience (UX).

What is UX? And how does it contribute to SEO? In this article, we’ll learn the role of User Experience in SEO and why Google prioritizes web page performance. Get ready because this is going to be interesting. 

Understanding User Experience (UX)

In simple terms, when a person opens any page, it’s the first thing that they see like the design of the site, how long it took for it to open, and whether the portal is engaging, etc. These factors are known as User Experience (UX). 

A site with good UX allows its users to find access to quick information, isn’t complicated, or has features that are not hard to understand, it provides a smooth experience. Such experience builds a good reputation and the user will visit your homepage again if the UX is good.

Think of UX as the roadmap your visitors follow, ensuring they can easily find what they’re looking for, whether it’s simple information or something more specific like how to track my husband location.

UX is made by taking audience preferences in mind. They try to make UX as user-friendly as possible and avoid adding things that can interfere with the visitor’s experience.

How Site Performance Impacts Search Engine Rankings

The site’s performance has a major impact on its search engine ranking. For instance, the search engine will evaluate if users were engaged with your site or not and determine that aspects of your performance will be taken into consideration.

For example, how long does your internet page take to open/load? If it takes 0–3 seconds that is good, ideal is 0–2 seconds but 3 isn’t bad either. If it takes more than that, your site won’t be ranking higher.

If your web presence is not user-friendly, and it’s hard for users to operate features, or they are not able to understand, that too will decrease your ranking. Your site has to be mobile-friendly, not everyone is going to open it on a computer. 

You have to design the portal in such a way that it fits every screen type. Users have to have access to all the features that are being given on PC. It also aligns with SEO algorithms, so the better the mobile UX is, your chances of ranking higher only increase. 

Core Web Vitals: Google’s Key Metrics for User Experience

Core Web Vitals (CWVs) can be considered as guidelines or a set of metrics introduced by Google. These metrics were introduced for better user experience. Below are all the key aspects that need to be followed:

1 Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

LCP keeps your loading time in check. It checks how long it takes for the largest icon on your site to load. The icon could be anything, video, image, or anything.

If the loading time is less than or under 2.5 seconds, it’s considered good. Under 3 seconds needs improvements, but it’s okay. However, if it reaches or goes over 4 seconds, it’s bad.

2 First Input Delay (FID)

Users want a page that responds as fast as them. Suppose you have provided any link and if they click on it, they expect it to be open instantly, if it gets delayed users will drop the site.

FID keeps the browser speed in check. 100 milliseconds or fewer is considered good and enough time for response. 

3 Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) might seem the same as FID because it also tracks the response time. However, FID tracks the first response after clicking on something, but INP keeps track after any link or button has been clicked on.

It is the more comprehensive form of FID. According to Google guidelines, 200 or fewer milliseconds is good, up to 500 milliseconds needs improvement but over that it won’t be ranked. 

4 Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

CLS checks the visual stability of your page. If your internet page glitches or suddenly icons are misplaced or anything, it won’t be ranked above other sites. But even getting loaded again and again everything stays at its place, that website is most likely to rank higher. 

If your CLS score is equal to or less than 0.1 seconds, that’s great, but over that means your site’s visuals have an issue that you need to improve.

DID YOU KNOW?

Users will stay 88% longer on a site if there is a video!

Optimizing Site Performance for Better User Experience and SEO

Here are a few things you can do to optimize your site for better user experience and SEO:

• Decrease Loading Time: Start with the basics to decrease the loading time of your site, you can do that by compressing or resizing different files like images or videos.
• Response Time: If your server’s response time is low, and it doesn’t respond right away, it will frustrate the users and will decrease your ranking. Use a good hosting server and reduce HTTP requests. 
• Reduce Redirects: Redirects bring in more HTTP requests, which increases page load. Reduce redirects for smooth performance and protect both your SEO and UX.
• Core Web Vitals: As mentioned, keep your LCP, FID, INP, and CLS in check. These are Google guidelines. Optimizing them will automatically result in user and SEO optimization.