Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and User Experience (UX) are two of our specialist teams in Logic+Magic, yet often working as one. Why? Well, these two disciplines have traditionally been seen as separate, it’s becoming increasingly clear (to us and our clients) that their effectiveness is maximised when they work in harmony. This article explores why SEO and UX must be considered together and how their integration can elevate your digital strategy.
Understanding SEO and UX
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the art and science of making your website visible on search engines like Google. It’s about ensuring your website is visible across search engines where your customers are. This helps to drive organic traffic to your pages.
User Experience (UX), on the other hand, is all about how people interact with your website. It’s the feeling a user gets when they navigate your site—whether it’s intuitive, easy to use, and visually pleasing, or confusing, frustrating, and cluttered. So, in very simple terms; SEO is how you get noticed to your customers, and UX is how you make them feel when they get there.
Let’s consider the task of buying your favourite jeans online from a user’s perspective. You might type the jeans and size into a search engine, find and click on the retail website, then use the search or filter function to refine your order. Once you find the product, you go through the checkout process to purchase your product. When your purchase is complete, you receive an email and on page confirmation. You may also have had such a great experience you added more to your order. All the different steps in that process make up the user experience. If the process is quick, clear and easy to navigate, with a logical path from A to Z, you’ll have a good user experience. If it’s plagued with errors, missing crucial information, has slow load times, or unnecessarily complex hurdles, you’ll have a bad experience leading to a lack of trust and confidence. It just takes one point of failure in that whole journey - which could be not being easily found, OR not fulfilling an order, or even worse creating such a negative e-commerce experience that scuppers any future chances of purchase.
How SEO Influences UX
SEO strategies directly impact UX. When you optimise for search engines, you’re not just improving visibility; you’re also enhancing the usability of your site. For example, a well-structured website with clear, keyword-optimised headings is easier for users to navigate. Fast loading times, a key SEO factor, significantly improve the user’s experience, keeping them engaged rather than frustrated. By focusing on SEO, you’re laying the groundwork for a positive user experience.
How UX influences SEO
As we discussed in our recent SEO webinar, user experience is playing an increasingly important part of how websites are being ranked on search engines; a well-crafted user experience boosts your SEO efforts. A website that’s easy to use, visually appealing, and delivers value to the user will naturally retain visitors longer, and encourage deeper interaction—all of which signal to search engines that your site is high-quality and worthy of higher rankings.
The most impactful areas where SEO and UX Overlap
Mobile responsiveness
With more and more users browsing on mobile devices than ever before, mobile optimisation is a critical point of convergence for SEO and UX. A mobile-responsive design ensures that your site looks and functions well on any device.
Site speed
Users expect websites to load quickly—ideally in under three seconds. If your site is slow, users will likely abandon it, leading to higher bounce rates and lower search rankings. Optimising your site’s speed is essential for maintaining user engagement and being found more easily on search engines.
Content quality and structure
Search engines favour content that is well-organised, informative, and relevant to the user’s query. At the same time, users love content that is easy to read, navigate, and understand. By focusing on creating high-quality, structured content, you can satisfy both search engines and users.
Some simple guidance
Design for the user first
When designing or redesigning your website, always start with the user. Understand their needs, behaviours, and pain points, and create a design that addresses these. A user-centric approach will naturally align with many SEO requirements, as both disciplines aim to improve the overall quality and accessibility of your website.
Write well for humans and you write well for search
Use researched keywords strategically, but don’t sacrifice readability or user engagement. The goal is to create a website that satisfies algorithms and provides a meaningful, enjoyable experience for real people. They often align; do not sacrifice readable and accessible content for some keywords that you want to attract more visits from. It isn’t a sustainable solution
SEO and UX is never done
It’s essential to continuously test and refine your SEO and UX strategies. Regularly analyse your site’s performance from both a findability and online performance perspective and make insightful adjustments as needed. This iterative approach ensures that your website remains competitive and continues to deliver the best possible experience for users and search engines alike.
Business growth from SEO + UX
Today, SEO and UX are no longer separate; they are two sides of the same coin. When these disciplines work together, they create a powerful synergy that can significantly enhance your website’s performance, driving more traffic, higher engagement, and better results for you and your customers.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you integrate SEO and UX into your digital projects.
Head of SEO
User Experience Director
