SEO vs. Usability – Practical Considerations

It is a common problem faced by website operators on one side and usability and SEO experts on the other. The budget is often tight, especially for startups and medium-sized companies, so priorities must be set: Should the marketing budget be spent on good website usability, should the design and structure be revised and optimized for user-friendliness? Or should it be better invested in a professional search engine analysis and the implementation of proven SEO measures? Not infrequently, usability and SEO professionals themselves disagree about the "perfect" website - the different perspectives from the user and search engine viewpoint sometimes seem hardly reconcilable. However, there are also points where both disciplines agree. So, are SEO and usability really as incompatible as they sometimes seem, and where should the focus be?

Site Structure - Breadcrumbs and Navigation

The clear site structure with as little click depth as possible is one of the best-known SEO measures. A clear and logical navigation that reflects the structure of the site with the help of relevant keywords is also among the common recommendations. Breadcrumbs and sitemaps further help to illustrate the hierarchy. From a search engine optimization perspective, such measures are also sensible. The user should not only reach the page but also find their way around and ideally convert - make a purchase, register for a newsletter, or make contact. To perform the desired action, however, they must first find the relevant page and button. If they cannot find their way around the site because a logical structure is lacking, they will most likely leave the site again shortly.

Accessibility and Performance of the Website

Websites that include large images, animations, or media content and therefore have long loading times are a real annoyance for many users. Similarly troublesome are websites that are not accessible or incorporate a large number of faulty links. Not all search engines focus on this, but Google has been evaluating websites based on their performance for some time. A very long loading time can thus be penalized and negatively impact the ranking. Poor accessibility of the website can also be a negative ranking factor. From both an SEO and usability perspective, it pays to keep page sizes as small as possible, compress images, streamline source code and scripts, and use intensive media content sparingly. The website should be accessible as much as possible, and faulty links should be avoided.

Relevance of the Website

Search engines strive to provide users with the most relevant result for the search query. Users also aim to meet their respective needs, get a question answered, buy a specific product, or find information. Focusing on the target audience and the intention of one's own website benefits both approaches. Of course, don't forget your own intention with the website: should a product be sold or promoted, the brand be strengthened, or information disseminated? Once these questions are clarified, researching and using relevant terms (keywords) helps to convince both search engines and users of the website's relevance and secure a good starting position for ranking on relevant keywords.

Design and Ad IntegrationA website that displays an excessive amount of ads in prominent places can hardly be called user-friendly. In the worst case, the AdSense block is hardly distinguishable from the navigation, the ads disrupt the reading flow, or the actual content has to be searched for first. What is a small disaster from a usability perspective can also harm the ranking and make SEO unhappy. Google itself has indicated that the number, size, and placement of integrated ad blocks could negatively affect the placement in search results. Further consequences, such as an increased bounce rate, can additionally influence the ranking. Considering the practices of Google’s Quality Raters, it becomes clear that the first impression of a website can also play an important role - an attractive design and good usability not only increase the duration of potential customers' visits, but also reduce the risk of being rated as spam by Quality Raters.SEO or Usability? Chicken or Egg?

The points mentioned above should have shown that the question of prioritization - SEO or usability - cannot be answered easily. Often, the interests of both areas are not so far apart - which is not surprising, as Google and other search engines increasingly focus on the so-called "User Experience," that is, a positive experience for the user on a website. Those who invest only in SEO and achieve a good position in search results through optimization measures may increase their traffic, but with lacking user-friendliness, these new visitors quickly bounce and do not convert. Traffic increases, but revenues stagnate. Those who focus on usability and neglect search engine optimization, waive significant traffic potential from organic search results. If enough visitors come to the website through other sources (SEM, banner advertising, social media marketing, or PR work), this circumstance is certainly tolerable for the time being. Relying solely on traffic from unpaid search results is always a high risk, which can quickly become a disaster for a company in case of an algorithm update, leading to the company's ruin. Apart from the importance that organic traffic undoubtedly holds for most websites, traffic should also always be generated through other sources. However, relying exclusively on other online marketing channels squanders significant potential.

In summary, it can be said that good usability (and, of course, conversion optimization) is the basis for successful online marketing campaigns. SEO measures should not be carried out at the expense of usability. Small SEO disadvantages that result from perfect usability are sometimes more tolerable. Specifically, this means not making text content unreadable through excessive keyword usage and finding a compromise between text and graphics, readability, and keyword optimization. A good SEO copywriter masters the perfect balance between user-oriented text and keyword-optimized text, creating content that is optimally resolved in both respects. Sometimes a compromise is not necessary, but sometimes it is unavoidable.

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