Your website is often the place prospective students and parents get their first impression of your school. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial for online visibility, with user experience (UX) playing a significant part in this. Here we explore why great UX is a game-changer for school websites and their search rankings.
User experience and SEO are intrinsically linked. This is because search engines like Google prioritise websites that provide value to users, and a well-designed, user-friendly website not only attracts visitors, but also encourages them to stay longer and engage more deeply with your content. This increased engagement signals to search engines that your site is valuable, potentially boosting your rankings.
With the majority of web searches now conducted on mobile devices, having a mobile-responsive website is non-negotiable when it comes to UX. Therefore, schools with mobile-optimised websites improve UX and align with Google’s mobile-first indexing policy, positively impacting their SEO efforts.
Page load speed is also a critical factor in both UX and SEO, as a fast-loading website reduces bounce rates and improves user satisfaction. Search engines favour speedy sites, making this a win-win for both your visitors and your search rankings.
Last but not least, an intuitive navigation structure helps users find the information they need quickly. This enhances UX and allows search engines to crawl and index your site more effectively – both of which will improve your school’s overall SEO performance.
Investing in UX by creating an intuitive, fast, and mobile-responsive website gives schools the chance to significantly enhance both their user experience and search engine rankings. Remember, a great UX not only satisfies your website visitors, but also pleases the algorithms that determine your visibility in search results.
Written by Stephanie Clark