You check your site analytics daily (or hourly like the bigmouthmedia analysts) to see how many visitors are landing on your site, what they doing and - most importantly - if they are converting.
You notice that you are attracting a large amount of traffic for a particular search term, but the bounce rate of that page is extremely high (for the sake of this article, let's say 90% as this varies between websites and verticals).
By correctly using an analytics or web traffic package such as Google Analytics, you'll be able check to see which pages on your site have high bounce rates. By utilising such data, it's possible to improve the page from the user's perspective by making it more user friendly. For the purpose of this article, we will use Google Analytics as the example analytics package.
You can view your bounce rate in Google Analytics by logging into your account, selecting Traffic Sources from the left hand menu then 'Keywords'.
However hard you try, you cannot find out why so many users are bouncing off your website when they land on your site.
The first thing you should do in this instance is type in the search term into a search engine on which you appear and find out which page is ranking and attracting traffic. Then visit the page and have a look around.
If you weren't presented with an error 404 page - meaning there are no site issues there - what's the next step? Take a look at is the page itself, and what search term is driving the traffic.
Usability
Analyse the page and put yourself in the shoes of the user: if you landed on this page, would you be happy with what is presented? For this example, a page might be too text heavy or display few images.
When creating optimised pages for search engines, you must also design them for the user, as obtaining the attention of web users is the ultimate goal. Essentially, if the user isn't happy, the user won't convert.
The key to search engine optimisation is establishing the difference between a well-optimised page and a page which is both well-optimised and attractive to users. This is why usability and search engine optimisation go hand-in-hand.
Once you've established what you think could be wrong with the page, the next stage is to act upon it and try and make the page better for the user, while still upholding its search engine friendly aspects.
Images
Provide an image. Images are a prime way to market your site. They give the user a visual understanding of what the page is conveying. Remember to include the all important alt attributes to ensure your site is accessible. There's also the off chance that the image you upload will rank within an image search engine, such as Google Images.
Formatting
Go nuts with formatting. Use:
- Bold
- Italics
- Lists
- Headings
- Underlining
- Alignments, etc.
If you can break down the text on your site so that it's easily digestible, then the user will take more value from the page. Remember that often when people read pages on the internet, they skim and filter out what they don't want to see. In fact, a recent post by usability guru Jakob Nielsen found that most users only have time to read 28% of words on a web page. So if you highlight and format relevant information correctly, they're more likely to return to your site on a regular basis.
For instance, compare the user friendly page on the right with the not-so-friendly one on the left.
Call to Action
Now the user has landed on the page what do they do next? Ensure that you make a call to action that clearly indicates what the user should do. Follow up on what the page is conveying with a strong call to action. If you have the knowhow, you can assign a goal to this call to action and monitor it over time to gain a better understanding of your users.
Self Promotion
If you have a great page that is related to the article the user is reading, offer the user related content: for example, 'you may also be interested in...' or 'why don't you take a look at...' sections. Self promote pages within your site and they will be easier for your readers to find.
Ultimately, the user's attention is the overall goal. Although the search term you are targeting is receiving traffic, it may not be the most suitable one for that page. A large percentage of search engine optimisation is strategic and once you have a better understanding of what your users want, and what your website conveys, your site will be able to perform better in the fields of usability and organic search.
