What use is a great site if no one can find it? You need a solid SEO strategy for your bank to appear high in relevant Google searches. On the other hand, SEO experts may tell you all sorts of things you need to do to land on the first page of Google results. Some of those things may clutter your design or otherwise negatively impact site visitors. How do you make sure your site is performing on all SEO and user experience cylinders?

Your Users Are Not Online Robots

Be wary of copy written for SEO that you yourself would never want to actually read. Anything that sounds like it was written for a search engine algorithm will, at best, be ignored by users and, at worst, get in their way of doing business with you. Content must be relevant, concise, descriptive, and also search engine friendly. In THAT order.

Listen to SEO Experts, But Not Overly So

You need SEO expertise, whether from an external firm or cultivated in-house. Things change too often and there are too many tricks of the trade to ignore SEO. However, if SEO recommendations start to erode the visual, interactive, and content experience of your website, it’s time to push back. You’ll need to find alternative solutions that both bolster search results and foster solid user experience. If you author content primarily to satisfy SEO trends, you are likely working at cross purposes with your users.

Get a UX Consult

Before you implement any significant SEO strategy, get with your UX people to make sure you understand how it will impact user experience. Talk about what you can do to minimize negative effects from adding new content or changing layout. Make sure any SEO experts are talking with your web team, especially with UX professionals. This is essential.

Put Your Users First. Always.

Your users and their needs must come before the search engine robots. It’s true that a great site is of little use if people can find it. But what does it matter if people can find your website if the experience is a disaster when they get there?

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All Posts in This Series

• Keep Compliance and Regulations Out of Users' Way
• Prioritize Digital Accessibility for Good Business and Happy Users
• Cover the Basics Before Worrying About the Competition
• Users Before SEO (Always)
• For Easier Maintenance, Focus on Consistency & Efficiency
• Make Third-Party Tools Work for Your Unique Needs
• Keep Your IT and Marketing Teams Talking and Collaborating
• Don't Let Internal Content Compete with External User Needs
• Choose the Right Content Management System with Research
• Acquire New Customers and Retain Old Ones with Excellent Usability