Combine Usability and Sound SEO Practices and Watch Your Conversions Soar! (Part 1)
Following up on our web usability entry Does Your Target Audience Suffer from Online Add?, I thought I would put together a more detailed series on addressing both web usability and implementation of top-notch SEO practices.
This ‘two birds with one stone’ approach is an efficient way of making sure you meet the needs of your site’s visitors while ensuring that your rankings in the search engines stay high.
In Part One, let’s look at how to work with headings to help increase your conversion rates. In Parts 2 & 3, we will look at above-the fold-fold design and linking strategies.
Hot Hot Headings!
People scan information when they view a webpage, as opposed to reading all of the text through, like a book or newspaper. Taking this into account, you will lose a visitor who has to ‘work’ through blocks of text or search for a particular topic. Four seconds tops—that’s your window for nabbing a new customer!
Thoughtful construction of a heading can keep a visitor hooked. By pointing out in the heading what your visitor is looking for, they stay focused and more important, they stay on the page!
A smart heading will help you out in the search engines, too. Headings are awesome real estate for your keywords. Also, designating them as H1 or H2 headers grabs the search engines’ attention, identifying them as key areas within the site. Just make sure that the content below your headers is supportive of your keywords, adding weight and relevance.
Including keywords in your headings delights the search engines and by emphasizing what is HOT, you’ve made your visitor happy. Win-win!