Comments on: Website Usability and SEO: A Must Have Combination

By: Mr Bob Dobalina

Mr Bob Dobalina — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:52:53 +0000

Great article! And anyone who needs to do some good, but cheap usability testing should check out http://www.Loop11.com. Great tool for online, unmoderated user testing.

By: "Image is Everything" with Visual Search | Fathom SEO Search Engine Marketing Blog

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:46:21 +0000

[...] that spend a lot of time and money on graphic design, website usability testing and robust analytics can see a great return in leads or sales. However, big design [...]

By: Colleen

Colleen — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:49:16 +0000

If you can get people to your website you have only won half the battle. They must like you site and also feel comfortable with it or they will never make a purchase. Ever worst people go to your site and don’t think you are a creditable source you could lose them as a client. Remember all fascists of your business have to be of the same quality.

By: SOHO Prospecting

SOHO Prospecting — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:37:16 +0000

Great article!
I totally agree with you that getting visitors is not everything.

I always think of a website just like any store. If you go to a store where everything is a mess, you probably leave and not go back. With a website it’s even worse because in seconds you can leave a website and access the competitor’s store.

By: Paul Richlovsky

Paul Richlovsky — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:33:56 +0000

Extremely well-written post, Matt. I especially appreciate your reference to Jakob Nielsen. He is the ultimate authority when it comes to how people read and behave online. I recommend reading anything and everything with his name attached. His stuff is a must-read for anybody doing business online, especially people who have a lot of experience as traditional off-line content providers and little-or-no online experience. Some of the differences in how people interact with print vs. online media are as stark as Batman and the Joker, and he supports the theories with hard numbers.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:23:30 +0000

Great article! It would be pointless to try and optimize a website that is difficult to use. I hope more websites start taking usability and SEO into consideration.

By: Paul Blunden

Paul Blunden — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:42:19 +0000

I absolutely agree with the headline and usability and SEO should always go together. Foviance worked with a number of SEO agencies over 5 years ago as they realised that improved usability had a big impact on conversion rates. If they were on risk/reward contracts this was a must have.

Over the years we have gone beyond simple user testing or heuristics to include web analytic data analysis which provides rich information about the drop off points so that usability skills can be targeted at the appropriate point – thereby increasing ROI of the usability as well as the overall process in question.

You are right to say it is easy to do a bit of usability but make no mistake, this is a discipline vested in scientific methodology. It is no coincidence that website that invest in usability are more intuitive and more successful. Too often spend is still removed from the budget by poorly informed execs who can’t understand the value. Usability professionals and believers within organisations need to work harder to convince senior execs that this stuff needs to happen.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:31:45 +0000

Matt, great article.

It seems there are more and more websites that are concerned with things other than usability. I hate when I visit a site and can’t find my way around or figure out what to do… and I consider myself a fast learner!