Search Experience Optimization (SXO): Where SEO and UX converge

What is SXO?

SXO is the natural evolution of SEO, integrating aspects of UX to create a more complete and effective search experience. While traditional SEO focuses on factors such as keywords and backlinks to improve search engine rankings, SXO places additional emphasis on user interactions when they find the content they are looking for. 

With an eye on the customer journey, it tries to make customers feel a dedication from the developer to make content intuitive and accessible. In the long run, the main goal of SXO is to create a positive image of your business. This means not only attracting visitors but also converting them into loyal customers and brand ambassadors.

 Elements that influence the SXO

For an effective SXO strategy you must consider several factors:

1. Page Speed: if your website takes too long to load, users are likely to turn away. A website that loads quickly improves the user experience and reduces the bounce rate.

2. Receptive design: making sure your website is accessible, attractive and functional on mobile devices is essential, as an increasing percentage of traffic comes from mobile devices. 

3. Quality content: content must be relevant, useful and easy to understand. This not only improves SEO, but also keeps users engaged and encourages them to consume more on your platform.

4. User interface (UI): colors, fonts and all elements of your website should be aligned to create an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, with the goal of improving user experience and facilitating conversion.

5. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): implement techniques that facilitate and encourage the conversion of visitors into customers, such as clear calls to action and simple forms. But don't promise things you can't deliver because a dissatisfied customer is much worse than a disappointed visitor.

Practical applications to improve your SME's SXO

For SMEs, implementing an SXO strategy may seem challenging, but there are several practices that can help to significantly improve the search experience and user satisfaction:

1. Optimize content: make sure that all your pages have images and other content with the minimum possible weight without losing quality. This is essential for search engines to index your website in the top positions. Use relevant keywords but also focus on the readability and usefulness of the content.

2. Speed improvement: use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights or Seobility to identify and fix problems that slow down your website.

3. User experience analysis: use tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Hotjar to understand how users interact with your site and where they may be encountering problems. Adopt responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and devices.

4. A/B Testing: taking A/B testing to identify what changes in design or content can improve conversion rates.

Tools to develop a good SXO

Among the free tools we find two from Google, being the largest search engine on the Internet it is essential that your performance on it is excellent. Both tools are complementary, each with its strengths and approaches:

1. Google Search Console: allows you to monitor and improve the visibility of your website in Google search results. It helps you identify and fix indexing problems with data on the keywords that drive traffic to your site. Alerts you to security and mobile usability issues.

2. Google Analytics: Analyze user behavior within your website through detailed data on page views, time on site and bounce rate. It also provides you with traffic sources, conversions and audience characteristics. 

Finally, Hotjar is another excellent tool for SXO, as it provides data to understand and improve the user experience on your website. Its main features include:

• Heat maps: visualize where users click, scroll and hover.

• Session recordings: see how users interact with your site in real time.

• Surveys and comments: collect direct feedback from users.

• User interviews: facilitates direct connection with users to obtain detailed feedback.

Search Experience Optimisation (SXO) is an effective strategy that combines the best of SEO and UX to create a more complete and effective search experience. For SMEs, implementing SXO practices can significantly improve user satisfaction, increase visitor retention and ultimately drive conversions.

By focusing on site speed, responsive design, quality content and conversion rate optimisation, SMEs can leverage SXO to grow and thrive in the competitive digital world.

Ready to improve the user experience on your website? Don't wait any longer and start your journey with SXO!