"Today it's not about 'get the traffic, it's about 'get the targeted and relevant traffic. '" "Content Marketing has become the catalyst that fuels search and social media activity."
Have you ever clicked on a link on the first page of Google and been frustrated by the website you see? Slow-loading content, pages that look awful on mobile, broken links, it’s enough to make you want to leave and go somewhere else!
Search experience optimization, or SXO, can help in this scenario. This is the process of optimizing a site so it doesn’t just provide a great experience to visitors, but gives the search engines a good reason to up-rank your pages.
New to SXO? I’ve put together this overview to explain the benefits, how it meshes with SEO, and how you can use search experience optimization to your advantage.
Key Takeaways:
SXO combines SEO and UX principles to boost conversions. SEO makes your website discoverable in the search engine results, while UX makes it easy to navigate and use.
You need to understand your target audience inside out – what are they searching for, and how can you help them find what they need?
Tracking metrics is essential to search experience optimization – what works well, and how can you refine your site to drive conversions?
It’s also important to think about search generative experience optimization– how can you optimize your site for artificial intelligence (AI)?
What Is SXO?
SXO is the process of optimizing your website to provide an excellent experience for visitors.
Think of it as the intersection between search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX). What can you do to enhance your website so it’s discoverable in the search engines and ensures people can find what they need?
Connection between SEO, UX, and SXO
Let’s say you run an e-commerce store. You want to ensure it ranks as high as possible in the search engines. You can do this by optimizing your product pages, writing great page titles and meta descriptions, and creating high-quality content that drives backlinks. These are basic best practices for SEO.
You also want to provide a great experience to keep visitors on your site and encourage them to buy. You can do this by making your store easy to navigate, implementing a mobile-friendly design, and ensuring a flawless checkout process.
SEO vs. SXO vs. SGE:
The main priority of SEO is optimizing your website and content so you rank as high as possible in the search engines.
SXO doesn’t just take SEO into consideration – it’s also about providing a user-friendly, engaging experience on your website. This means visitors are more likely to stay on your site and convert.
What about search generative experience optimization, or SGE? It’s important not to ignore the impact of AI on search.
Example of the search generative experience on Google
SGE is all about understanding user intent and ensuring your website is relevant to the needs of potential customers – increasing the chances of the search engines prioritizing your content. Then, you can use SXO to keep these prospective customers on your site.
Don’t think of it as SEO vs. SXO vs. SGE – it’s important to factor all three into your digital marketing strategy to see the best odds of success.
Encourage backlinks. Backlinks from high-quality, trusted websites show the search engines that your site is a trusted source of information.
Use social proof. Reviews, testimonials, and awards inspire confidence in customers and encourage them to convert.
Consider user testing. Ask customers to complete tasks on your website and record their responses. They may identify issues you never thought of!
Measuring Your SXO Efforts:
Measuring your SXO efforts is vital – this helps you see what’s working and what you can optimize for better results.
I recommend putting goals in place before starting your search experience optimization strategy. Do you want to improve your conversion rates, click-through rates, user engagement, and how much by?
This gives you a clear steer and means you can focus on continuous improvement.
A/B testing is a fantastic way to see what your web visitors respond best to. For example, you can create two product pages, each identical apart from different colored “buy now” buttons. This helps you see which color button results in the most conversions.
Many platforms are available to help you track your SXO – the best two are Google Search Console and Google Analytics. They’re easy to install on your site and free to use.
Google Search Console lets you see which keywords you rank for in the search engine results and if there are any technical issues on your website that may affect the user experience.
List of ranking keywords in Google Search Console:
Google Analytics lets you see how long users stay on your website and which visits lead to conversions. You can also use event tracking to identify potential issues, for example, if visitors start filling in a lead generation form, but give up.
Conclusion:
Search experience optimization means you have more control over the customer journey. This doesn’t just mean where you rank in the search engines and how your results look, but how visitors navigate your site.
If you’re already using search engine optimization, you’re partway there. By understanding how you can make your site more appealing to visitors, you can make changes that make your website stand out from the crowd.
Search experience optimization, or SXO, can help in this scenario. This is the process of optimizing a site so it doesn’t just provide a great experience to visitors, but gives the search engines a good reason to up-rank your pages.
New to SXO? I’ve put together this overview to explain the benefits, how it meshes with SEO, and how you can use search experience optimization to your advantage.
Key Takeaways:
SXO combines SEO and UX principles to boost conversions. SEO makes your website discoverable in the search engine results, while UX makes it easy to navigate and use.
You need to understand your target audience inside out – what are they searching for, and how can you help them find what they need?
Tracking metrics is essential to search experience optimization – what works well, and how can you refine your site to drive conversions?
It’s also important to think about search generative experience optimization– how can you optimize your site for artificial intelligence (AI)?
What Is SXO?
SXO is the process of optimizing your website to provide an excellent experience for visitors.
Think of it as the intersection between search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX). What can you do to enhance your website so it’s discoverable in the search engines and ensures people can find what they need?
Connection between SEO, UX, and SXO
Let’s say you run an e-commerce store. You want to ensure it ranks as high as possible in the search engines. You can do this by optimizing your product pages, writing great page titles and meta descriptions, and creating high-quality content that drives backlinks. These are basic best practices for SEO.
You also want to provide a great experience to keep visitors on your site and encourage them to buy. You can do this by making your store easy to navigate, implementing a mobile-friendly design, and ensuring a flawless checkout process.
SEO vs. SXO vs. SGE:
The main priority of SEO is optimizing your website and content so you rank as high as possible in the search engines.
SXO doesn’t just take SEO into consideration – it’s also about providing a user-friendly, engaging experience on your website. This means visitors are more likely to stay on your site and convert.
What about search generative experience optimization, or SGE? It’s important not to ignore the impact of AI on search.
Example of the search generative experience on Google
SGE is all about understanding user intent and ensuring your website is relevant to the needs of potential customers – increasing the chances of the search engines prioritizing your content. Then, you can use SXO to keep these prospective customers on your site.
Don’t think of it as SEO vs. SXO vs. SGE – it’s important to factor all three into your digital marketing strategy to see the best odds of success.
Encourage backlinks. Backlinks from high-quality, trusted websites show the search engines that your site is a trusted source of information.
Use social proof. Reviews, testimonials, and awards inspire confidence in customers and encourage them to convert.
Consider user testing. Ask customers to complete tasks on your website and record their responses. They may identify issues you never thought of!
Measuring Your SXO Efforts:
Measuring your SXO efforts is vital – this helps you see what’s working and what you can optimize for better results.
I recommend putting goals in place before starting your search experience optimization strategy. Do you want to improve your conversion rates, click-through rates, user engagement, and how much by?
This gives you a clear steer and means you can focus on continuous improvement.
A/B testing is a fantastic way to see what your web visitors respond best to. For example, you can create two product pages, each identical apart from different colored “buy now” buttons. This helps you see which color button results in the most conversions.
Many platforms are available to help you track your SXO – the best two are Google Search Console and Google Analytics. They’re easy to install on your site and free to use.
Google Search Console lets you see which keywords you rank for in the search engine results and if there are any technical issues on your website that may affect the user experience.
List of ranking keywords in Google Search Console:
Google Analytics lets you see how long users stay on your website and which visits lead to conversions. You can also use event tracking to identify potential issues, for example, if visitors start filling in a lead generation form, but give up.
Conclusion:
Search experience optimization means you have more control over the customer journey. This doesn’t just mean where you rank in the search engines and how your results look, but how visitors navigate your site.
If you’re already using search engine optimization, you’re partway there. By understanding how you can make your site more appealing to visitors, you can make changes that make your website stand out from the crowd.
