SEO and Usability

What Vancouver SEO firms are discussing as the key opportunities in usability and search engine positioning.

One topic of continuing discussion among Vancouver Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms is usability. Not only is this hot topic dialogued in the web community as a whole, but particularly as it relates to SEO.

From an search engine positioning perspective, usability—or the ease in which both humans and search engines can find what they are looking for—is particularly relevant as companies seek to please their users and get high rankings in search engines. This fine-tuned balance presents one of the biggest challenges in SEO –making a site equally relevant to its two main audiences.

In order to optimize a site for usability, there are a few tactics which must be employed. Firstly, the site must provide its users with what they are looking for in an organized and easy-to-find fashion -namely because a site has mere seconds to grab its audience.

Secondly, a site must be structured to allow search engines to find various points of entry, and once they are in, direct them to the rest of the webpages.  After all, what’s the use in having a website if the search engines can't find the majority of the pages.

Thirdly, navigation aside, the content must be written and delivered in a clear, concise and optimized manner to assist with a site’s user and search engine friendliness.

Fine-tuning a website’s usability from an SEO standpoint ultimately assists with effectively delivering a company’s message. Like a continual cycle, a properly organized site geared at its target audience—consisting of primary users and search engines—will ensure it is in a position to gain and keep its audience.

By Trish McCloy, writing for Stand Marketing, a Vancouver Internet Marketing Company. For more information on site maps and SEO, check out our list of search engine promotion services.