SXO

SXO (search experience optimization) is a set of methods that improve user experience on search engines. It applies SEO principles and helps enhance UX to meet users’ needs and find answers to their questions.

In this article, we’ll uncover the importance of SXO and teach you how to measure and improve it.

Why is SXO important?

Nowadays, it’s now enough to develop a comprehensive SEO strategy to reach prospects and make them convert. To be successful, a company needs to care about a set of aspects such as web development, content marketing, UX optimization, analytics, conversion rate optimization, etc.

With SEO and UX activities, marketers seek to win the attention of as many people as possible and meet their needs with quality content, valuable product features, or an excellent user experience. Companies do it to encourage searchers to take the desired action. It can be a conversion, purchase, or signup. If everything is done right, brands can understand customers’ needs and desires, and get to know their preferences.

SXO is essential for a higher level of conversions and sales volume. If you rank high on Google and provide a seamless customer experience, you’ll be rewarded. Besides, search experience optimization helps obtain more customers who come back, improve the content, stay consistent in marketing strategies, and more.

Now you know the reasons for SXO, so let’s explore how to improve it.

How to improve SXO?

Improving SXO is always useful for a business. We’ve prepared some of the most effective strategies that will help you do it. Look through all of them and then decide which of the aspects require your immediate action.

• Make use of a chatbot. Some customers can figure out how the product works by themselves, but others need help from your company. That’s why your customer support team should always be ready to provide solutions and assistance. There’s an excellent solution to this problem. To provide instant assistance, consider implementing a chatbot. SendPulse’s chatbot builder empowers you to facilitate live communication, provide support 24/7, ensure a seamless buyer journey, and help with onboarding and setup. You’ll save time and money.
• Speed your website load time. According to Unbounce, 70% of consumers say that their decisions to purchase depend a lot on website load time. Your website’s load time greatly impacts customer satisfaction and conversion rate. The faster your website speed, the happier users will be. That’s why you need to pay close attention to web page optimization. As a result, you’ll see instant changes in user experience, conversions, and profits. According to statistics, the first 5 seconds of web page load time are crucial since they influence conversion rates the most. Every additional second of load time reduces the conversion rates of your company. So, keep these facts in mind when you work on website development.
• Create structured quality content. Content stays among the most important aspects. Well-structured informative content can win hearts and encourage visitors to engage. It has a great impact on ranking and organic traffic. To keep your company in the top positions, you need to publish quality and unique articles on your blog regularly. Remember, the structure of your content, its length, and readability are important. Use original images and infographics to break your articles into logical parts. They will allow readers to perceive your materials faster and easier.
• Remember about mobile users. According to OuterBox, around 79% of customers use mobile devices for online shopping. This supports the fact that customers prefer using a smartphone to buy products because it’s fast and convenient. You need to provide a website with a mobile responsive design. Create intuitive navigation, clear and visible CTAs, use whitespace, optimize videos and images, and be consistent. As a result, your site will display well on small screens.
• Use meta tags. Besides quality content, you should also remember about the optimization of meta tags. They help users and Google understand if your content meets searchers’ queries. Create intriguing title tags and meta descriptions that encourage users to click and visit your website. You should include the most relevant and important facts about the content of the article.

The ways to improve SXO are clear, it’s time to unveil how to measure SXO.

How to measure SXO?

To evaluate SXO, you need to identify several important metrics. Below you’ll find out what measures indicate the situation with your search experience optimization.

• Pay attention to your bounce rate. This metric is about users who visited your website but left it without performing any actions. Look through the pages that might have a high level of bounce rate. Many steps to place an order, additional costs such as taxes, the lack of convenient payment method can become serious reasons for potential customers to leave your site. Check your website for such issues and eliminate them. Remember, an unpleasant experience influences your sales and revenue.
• Analyze click-through rate. Use Google Search Console to identify how many people clicked the link on the search engine results page that leads to your site. It will help you figure out what to change: meta tags, ads, or content.
• Calculate conversion rates. By estimating conversions, you’ll be able to uncover whether you succeeded in reaching your goals of bringing in new customers. If you manage to increase your customer base and sales, it means that your SXO strategy works.
• Estimate the average time visitors spend on your website or page. If you have quality and engaging content, users will spend more time on your website and read different articles. Time will give you a hint whether your content is compelling and meets users’ needs.
• See your organic traffic. Once you start implementing the steps we’ve mentioned before, you need to analyze the results. See if the content you publish reaches your target groups and resonates with them. You should analyze the changes in your organic traffic from the moment you started improving your SXO.

Excellent user experience and SEO are the two aspects that impact conversions, bounce rate, customer satisfaction, and finally, your revenue. You'll see a real difference when you consider our tips on improving SXO. Hope the metrics will help you evaluate SXO for your company.

References:

1. This article defines the term and unveils the difference between SEO and SXO.
2. In this article, you’ll find out how to use SXO to improve SEO.

Last Updated: 23.03.2023