A presentation at Information Architecture Summit 2011 in in Denver, CO, USA by Jonathon Colman
I’m a UX Designer – and I’m an SEO: Working Together to Heal the Rift Between Customers and the Marketers Who Love Them User Experience Search Engines Erin Hawk (UX) and Jonathon Colman (SEO) 2011 IA Summit: Saturday, April 2
IA SU M M IT W IN NE R: LO NG ES T SE SS IO N TI TL E I’m a UX Designer – and I’m an SEO: Working Together to Heal the Rift Between Customers and the Marketers Who Love Them User Experience Search Engines Erin Hawk (UX) and Jonathon Colman (SEO) 2011 IA Summit: Saturday, April 2
Let’s learn about you with a quick survey… Photo © Flickr user omarhabayeb, flickr.com/photos/omarhabayeb
Our question: Can UX and SEO be like chocolate and peanut butter? Photo © Flickr user jamieanne, flickr.com/photos/jamieanne
So am I. Prove it! Hmmmm… I’m skeptical. And would it kill ya to gimme a cheezburger?! (and hunky) Photo © Flickr user slowhat, flickr.com/photos/slowhat
Top 5 UX design myths about SEO Photo © Flickr user LVCHEN, flickr.com/photos/yungyeh
Myth: SEO is SPAM. Photo © Flickr user OCReactive, flickr.com/photos/ocreactive
Reality: SEO is relevancy marketing. Photo © Flickr user jmsvuk, flickr.com/photos/jmsvuk
Yep, it’s this one. It’s just one tool in your belt. Photo © Flickr user herzogbr, flickr.com/photos/herzogbr
High search rank correlates with high traffic and conversion. Source: The Atlas Rank Report: How Search Engine Rank Impacts Traffic
Myth: Design is for people, not robots. Photo © Flickr user mringseis, flickr.com/photos/mringseis
Reality: Search engines are consumers of your content, too. Photo © Flickr user H Brown, flickr.com/photos/heathercbrown
…and people rely on robots as wayfinding agents. Tip: We prefer City O’ City coffee at 206 E. 13th Ave. Photo © Flickr user ebatty, flickr.com/photos/ebatty
Myth: SEO seems filled with secrets and mysteries. Photo © Flickr user JK Mallory, flickr.com/photos/41499497@N06
Reality: So is any discipline… when seen from the outside. Photo © Flickr user Xavier de Jauréguiberry, flickr.com/photos/25831000@N08
SEOs are not gurus; they’re just practitioners. Like you! Photo © Flickr user mrbenjamin, flickr.com/photos/25199042@N06
…and SEO works best when it’s built-in to the experience. Photo © Flickr user Jonesemyr, flickr.com/photos/47557199@N03
Myth: SEO is about text, not design. Photo © Flickr user jcolman, flickr.com/photos/jcolman
Let’s look at a product page…
Text is clearly an important part of the experience for humans and search engines.
…but how did they find that product? Design and architecture affect humans and search engines.
SEO Reality: SEO is all about IA, taxonomy, ops, analytics, infrastructure, relationships… UX! Photo © Flickr user temposmodernos, flickr.com/photos/50806803@N08
Myth: I can rely on advertising for traffic. Photo © Flickr user s.urich, flickr.com/photos/urichsj
Reality: Paid Search CPC increases ≈30% each year. Does your ad budget?
Reality: If SEO isn’t at least 50% of your traffic, it’s still growing.
Top 5 SEO myths about UX design Photo © Flickr user LVCHEN, flickr.com/photos/yungyeh
Myth: You can’t truly measure “experience”. Photo © Flickr user undoneclothing, flickr.com/photos/undoneclothing
Reality: UX has many tools for measurement. Photo © Flickr user Winter Bicycles, flickr.com/photos/22538785@N05
Myth: You can’t tie UX to profits. Photo © Flickr user mickwatson, flickr.com/photos/mickwatson
Reality: ERIN, PUT SOMETHING HERE, pretty please. Image by Dr. Susan Weinschenk © Human Factors International, Inc., http://www.humanfactors.com/ROIposter.asp
Myth: Search solves all your navigation issues. Photo © Flickr user refmo, flickr.com/photos/refmo
Reality: Users often don’t know what they don’t know. And that’s OK. Photo © Flickr user zert.sonstige_2008, flickr.com/photos/32552054@N04
…because learning and refining is part of their experience. Marcia J. Bates: The Design of Browsing and Berrypicking Techniques for the Online Search Interface http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/berrypicking.html
Myth: I already know our customers! Photo © Flickr user coblat, flickr.com/photos/coblat
OK, so which one am I? Reality: You don’t know Jack. Or Jill! Until you test. Photo © Flickr user MeFind, flickr.com/photos/mefind
Myth: The user’s feelings don’t matter. Photo © Flickr user wishardofoz, flickr.com/photos/wishardofoz
Which one of these people will come back? Or recommend you? Reality: Satisfied customers are your best referrers. Photo © Flickr user lunaciel, flickr.com/photos/lunaciel
Actually, the user doesn’t matter. Photo © Flickr user yubyungman, flickr.com/photos/yubyungman
Reality: Search engines can’t buy anything from you. Photo © Flickr user largeprime, flickr.com/photos/largeprimenumber
Time for our group exercise! Photo © Flickr user usnavynvns, flickr.com/photos/usnavynvns
Witty, huh? Scenario: This is a product users like. REI ranks well for its name. And it drives traffic.
When customers click on the search result, they get a “Product Unavailable” page.
But guess what? We have a newer version of this product in stock! But it’s located at a different URL that does not rank well in search.
What would YOU do? Split into two teams… Team SEO: What would you do to improve findability and drive traffic to the new version of the jacket? Team UX: What would you do to reduce bounce rate on the old jacket and improve conversion for the new version? Photo © Flickr user Colin_K, flickr.com/photos/colinkinner
Nice work! This stormtrooper demands that you hug it out now. Photo © Flickr user balkov, flickr.com/photos/balakov
So… Can we make UX and SEO be like chocolate and peanut butter? Photo © Flickr user jamieanne, flickr.com/photos/jamieanne
Photo © Flickr user let5ch, flickr.com/photos/letscher
Photo © Flickr user Rajiv Patel, flickr.com/photos/23679420@N00
Want more SEO/UX resources? Get 90+ hand-curated articles and tools here: www.delicious.com/seo_ux PhotoPhoto © Flickr © Flickr user Winter user Rajiv Bicycles, Patel, flickr.com/photos/22538785@N05 flickr.com/photos/23679420@N00
Erin Hawk: UX @ REI Twitter @erinhawk Jonathon Colman: SEO @ REI Twitter @jcolman Graphic © Flickr user Jesse Fletcher, flickr.com/photos/jaxsilver
By re-imagining the classic “I’m a Mac… and I’m a PC” commercials, Jonathon Colman and Erin Hawk from REI help attendees learn how two individual disciplines — User Experience design (UX) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — can work together to help customers succeed in their goals and, in so doing, redevelop their relationship while growing their business.
Using real-world examples, lots of humor, and group collaboration with the audience, this presentation will “Make It Better” by helping these two disciplines re-focus their strengths, approaches, and goals to support not only one another, but the customer as well.
Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.
