Tip #1: Include searcher goals & behaviors in your user personas.

Many companies will already have personas. Then all you will have to do is add searcher information to it.

What types of search tasks do your users wish to complete? How do they complete these tasks currently? How can you make task completion more efficient? How can you enable task completion to have higher user satisfaction?

I believe SEO professionals need to get their bums out of their chairs and actually interview users…or at least interview the people who interact with users most. You will get a wealth of information to put in a persona and a task analysis … Information that no keyword research tool can address.

Tip #2: Work with a qualified information architect to create a scalable, sustainable navigation system.

In 2017, the #1 reason for task failure & abandonment is the same as it was 10 years ago: poor navigation and architecture.

And now, with the emphasis on mobile, navigation has shifted from ‘broad-and-shallow’ to ‘narrow-and-deep. This shift in navigation genuinely makes content more difficult to locate & discover.

Remember, architecture & navigation are not the same thing. Information architecture is organizing, labeling, and connecting content to make:

(1) a website easy to use, and (b) site content easy to find.

Navigation is part of the UI (user interface). Site navigation should reinforce and support information architecture.

Don’t skip this crucial step. As much as I admire & respect technical SEOs, they are usually not skilled or educated in this area. Neither are software developers.

But if you work with a qualified information architect, you can work together to make a site !00% search-engine friendly AND user friendly.

Tip #3: Think USERS FIRST, not Mobile First.

I have never agreed with the “Mobile First” mentality. It makes a device (or technology) more important than the user. I believe technology should accommodate users, not the other way around.

My point of view has always been USERS FIRST. So, if my target audience genuinely uses mobile devices to locate and discover content? Then by all means, I will create and optimize a website to accommodate users’ search tasks on mobile devices.

Mobile usability studies are best conducted in the field, not in a usability lab. I’ve tested mobile sites and observed users in real-time situations. The results are always interesting because people are just SO funny!

Overall, following these 3 tips have helped my client websites enormously in these past few years. With the focus more on users and how to help them accomplish their goals? Well, that means better, more efficient SEO.