The Power of Search Experience Optimisation (SXO)

The digital landscape is fast-paced and rapidly changing in 2024. Traditional SEO, while a solid foundation, often falls short in today's interconnected, omnichannel digital ecosystem. To truly thrive, companies need a more holistic approach.

To bridge this gap, I believe Search Experience Optimisation (SXO) is the answer. SXO combines search engine optimisation (SEO), user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimisation (CRO). By aligning these three disciplines, businesses can unlock unprecedented opportunities for organic growth, enhanced user engagement, and increased conversions.

How to Leverage SEO, UX, & CRO to Supercharge Conversions and Customer Loyalty

SXO goes beyond merely optimising for search engines. It prioritises the entire customer journey, from initial discovery to post-purchase satisfaction. By understanding user’s behaviour, preferences, and goals, businesses can deliver tailored experiences that build trust, loyalty, and advocacy.

In this article I will explore the core principles of SXO, and provide actionable insights and practical guidance for SEOs and marketers to implement this strategy. Let's dive in and explore how SXO can switch up your business.

Core Principles of SXO

The true power of SXO lies in the integration of SEO, UX and CRO to create a cohesive user journey that delivers additional value.

• User-centric SEO: Focusing on user intent and creating valuable content aligns with both user needs and search engine algorithms.
• Conversion-focused UX: Designing intuitive user experiences that guide visitors towards desired actions enhances conversion rates.
• Data-driven CRO: Leveraging analytics to inform SEO, UX, and CRO decisions ensures continuous improvement.

By understanding and effectively combining these three pillars into one cohesive strategy, businesses can create a strong foundation for success. Let's explore how these elements work together.

SEO: Driving Website Visibility

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves optimising onpage, technical, and offpage signals for both websites and other digital platforms to improve search engine visibility. By understanding and implementing effective SEO practices, businesses can increase organic traffic and reach a wider audience.

This involves activities like:

• Keyword research and on-page optimisation: Creating high-quality, informative, unique and engaging content that is optimised for specific keywords and topics.
• Technical SEO: Ensuring website structure, speed and mobile-friendliness are optimised.
• Link building: Acquiring high-quality backlinks from reputable websites to improve search rankings.

While SEO is crucial, it's essential to remember that it's just one piece of the SXO puzzle.

UX: Creating Exceptional Experiences

User Experience (UX) focuses on creating seamless and enjoyable interactions between users and a website or product. A positive user experience is essential for driving engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately customer loyalty.

UX involves activities like:

• Information architecture: Organising website content in a logical and intuitive manner which is crucial for user navigation.
• Usability testing & interviews: Gathering feedback from users to identify pain points and areas for improvement.
• Branding & design: Creating visually appealing and engaging designs that enhance user experience and engagement.
• Accessibility: Ensuring that the website is accessible to people with disabilities and impairments.

CRO: Driving Conversions

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) aims to maximise the value of website traffic by increasing conversions. By optimising user experiences, businesses can improve the likelihood of visitors taking desired actions.

CRO involves activities including:

• Landing page optimisation: Creating compelling and persuasive landing pages that align with user intent.
• Call-to-action (CTA) optimisation: Well placed and compelling CTAs that encourage conversions.
• A/B testing: Experimenting with different website elements to identify the most effective variations.
• Analytics and data-driven decision making: Utilising website analytics to understand user behaviour and inform optimisation efforts.

The Role of UX in SEO Success

A seamless user experience is crucial for both user satisfaction and search engine rankings. By prioritising UX, businesses can create websites that are engaging, informative and easy to navigate.

Understanding the Interplay Between UX and SEO

SEO and UX are interconnected, with each influencing the other. By understanding this relationship, businesses can optimise their websites for both users and search engines.

• Bridging the gap between data and customers: Traditional SEO often focuses solely on search engine algorithms, and sometimes forgets to tie the data with consumer goals and behaviours.
• Leveraging user data from both fields: SEO data, such as search volume and click-through rates, can provide valuable quantitative data on customer behaviour, while UX can shed light on the psychology and reasoning behind customer actions.
• Creating a holistic approach: By combining SEO and UX, businesses can create websites that are intentionally discoverable and engaging.

Identifying UX Roadblocks

To optimise the user experience for SXO success, it's essential to identify and address potential roadblocks.

• Information architecture and navigation issues: Are users able to find what they need on your website? Complex or confusing navigation can frustrate users and result in the loss of conversions.
• Content and visual hierarchy: Poorly structured content and design can make it difficult for users to quickly understand and navigate your website pages. Poor readability can lead to users being drawn to things that you never intended them to focus on.
• Consistent branding and design: Consistency reduces the confusion and mental effort required for users to understand and navigate your website. It also help build brand recognition, making it easier for users to remember and trust your brand, essentially differentiating your from your competitors
• Mobile & Tablet optimisation: Ensuring a responsive and seamless user experience across different devices and fast site loading times is essential. It allows your potential customers to view your content on any device.

Prioritising UX Improvements

To maximise the impact of UX on SEO, it's essential to prioritise improvements based on user needs and business goals. By focusing on key areas that have been highlighted through both traditional SEO data and deeper user research methods, businesses can better address user pain points and drive better SEO results too.

• Interviews & user testing: Gathering feedback through conversations and user testing to identify key pain points and areas for improvement.
• Usability evaluation: Auditing website usability against known best practices to identify areas for optimisation.
• Analytics: Analysing website data from site analytics, heat mapping, user recordings, A/B testing and surveys & feedback tools can reveal user behaviour patterns and identify major pain points or issues on your website.
• Competitive analysis: Identifying the gaps, strengths and weaknesses from direct competitors allows you to learn from your competitors’ mistakes and find a way to differentiate your site. You do not need to reinvent the wheel for design and element interactions, instead you can leverage common design patterns found in your customers' ecosystem. ​
• CRO collaboration: Experimenting with different design elements with A/B testing provides concrete data to inform design and content choices, eliminating guesswork.

Integrating UX and SEO

To achieve optimal results, I really believe UX and SEO efforts must be aligned. By combining user-centric design principles with search engine optimisation, businesses will be able to create websites that are both highly engaging and discoverable.

• SXO buyer personas: Create comprehensive personas by combining demographic, behavioural, digital, SEO and UX information.
• User-centric keyword research: Map your keywords to personas, user intent and funnel.
• Intent-driven content creation: By focusing on addressing user pain points and goals, it can help you identify untapped keywords and content gaps that your competitors have not targeted yet.
• Optimise your content with engaging images/infographics/videos: Optimising images and videos for search engines, generative engines and better engagement.

By focusing on these areas, businesses can create websites that deliver exceptional user experiences while also ranking well in search engine results.

Implementing an SXO Strategy

Analysing User Intent

Understanding user intent is crucial for creating content and experiences that resonate with the target audience. By gaining insights into the minds of your target audience, you can tailor content, design, and interactions to meet their specific needs and desires.

Conducting In-Depth User Research

Conducting user research is essential for discovering new insights and validating assumptions about user needs, behaviours, and preferences. Here are some common research techniques:

• User interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews to gather qualitative data about user experiences, starting with broad questions then honing down to specific questions.
• Surveys and questionnaires: Provides a rapid method for collecting quantitative data through bulk distribution or systematic approaches. This is effective for validating or disproving assumptions. However, they often fall short in providing deep insights into why users respond as they do.
• Usability testing: Involves observing users as they complete specific tasks on your website. By watching their interactions, you can identify usability issues and potential areas for improvement. It can be conducted alongside user interviews to gather both qualitative and quantitative data.
• Leverage subject matter experts (SMEs): SMEs offer specialised knowledge and experience in a particular field. By tapping into their expertise, we can gain access to valuable, real-world insights. For example, a UX researcher studying the behaviour of older users might consult with a gerontologist to understand age-related cognitive changes and physical limitations. This expert input can help inform the design of user interfaces and experiences that are accessible and usable for older adults. SMEs often have a deep understanding of local markets, customer behaviours and emerging trends due to their direct interactions with communities and customers. This firsthand knowledge can be invaluable in providing crucial context and informing strategic decisions.
• Include insights from keyword research! Use keyword research to identify the terms and phrases that users are actively searching for. This will help you understand user intent and tailor your content to their specific needs. While qualitative user research provides deep insights into individual user experiences and motivations, keyword research offers a broader, quantitative perspective on the search needs and behaviours of a larger user population. By combining keyword research with user research, you can gain a holistic view of your target audience and optimise your content strategy accordingly.

By conducting user research, you can develop a comprehensive understanding of your target audience and their needs.

Developing SXO Personas

Creating user personas that combine SEO and UX (SXO) can significantly improve your marketing strategy. By deeply understanding your target audience's needs, search behaviour, and customer journey, you can create more relevant and engaging content, leading to higher conversions and stronger brand loyalty.

Key steps to create SXO personas:

1. Conduct thorough user research: Combine traditional user research methods with keyword research and audience analysis to identify user segments with similar behaviours and search intent.
2. Focus on intent-driven keyword research: Analyse search queries beyond volume and categorise them based on user segments and funnel stages.
3. Merge search data with user insights: Develop detailed personas incorporating demographics, goals, challenges, and search intent.
4. Humanise personas: Add lifestyle, values, content consumption habits, and technological preferences to build empathy.
5. Prioritise and update: Focus on 3-4 core personas and regularly refresh them based on new data.
6. Create targeted content strategies: Develop content tailored to each persona's needs and distribute it effectively.

By following these steps, you can create SXO personas that drive better results for your business.

Example of an SXO persona:

User Journey Mapping

Mapping out the customer journey provides a visual representation of the steps users take to interact with your brand. By understanding the user experience from start to finish, you can identify opportunities to create new content and improve your website.

• Define touchpoints and emotions: Identify all interactions users have with your brand and other brands, and how they feel about both online and offline experiences.
• Identify opportunities and pain points: Pinpoint areas where users encounter difficulties or challenges and the opportunities to solve them.
• Create a journey map for each persona: Each person has different scenarios, goals and expectations and these need to be reflected on their own unique journey.
• Use the marketing funnel: Map the journey stages to the marketing funnel (awareness, consideration, decision, action, post-purchase loyalty) to better understand user needs at each phase.

Example of an SXO user journey map:

Integrating UX and SEO for Content Creation

Creating content that aligns with both user needs and search engine algorithms is essential for SXO success. By effectively integrating UX and SEO, businesses can produce content that is both engaging and discoverable.

Content Mapping with a User-Centric Approach

Developing a comprehensive content map is crucial for organising and prioritising content creation efforts.

• Identifying content gaps: Conduct a thorough analysis of your target audience's needs, pain points, and questions to identify content gaps.
• Creating content clusters: Group related content topics into clusters based on user intent and search behaviour.
• Defining content formats: Determine the most suitable content formats (blog posts, articles, videos, infographics) for each topic, considering user preferences and search trends.

Content Optimisation: A Balance of User and Search Engine Needs

Optimising content for both users and search engines is crucial for SXO success.

• Keyword research informed by user intent: Use keyword research to identify search terms that align with user needs and goals.
• On-page optimisation with a user focus: Optimise title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and body copy while ensuring content readability and engagement.
• Content structure for optimal user experience: Create a clear and logical content structure that is easy to navigate and understand.
• Leveraging user-generated content: Incorporate user-generated content (reviews, testimonials, social media) to enhance credibility and authenticity.

Internal Linking: Enhancing User Experience and SEO

Building a strong internal linking structure is essential for both user experience and search engine visibility.

• Strategic linking: Connect related content within the website to ease navigation and distribute page authority.
• Informational linking: Provide additional context or information through internal links.
• User-focused linking: Guide users through the content journey with clear and relevant links.

Leveraging CRO with UX

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) plays a pivotal role in maximising the value of website traffic. By optimising website elements and user experiences, businesses can increase the likelihood of visitors taking desired actions.

The Interplay Between UX and CRO

Here are some ways UX and CRO are intrinsically linked, with each discipline informing and enhancing the other.

• User-centric CRO: UX identifies usability issues, while CRO measures their impact on conversions.
• Iterative optimisation: Continuously testing and refining both UX and CRO elements at the same time.

The Power of Effective CTAs

Clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) are crucial for guiding users towards conversions.

• Clear and Concise: Clearly communicate the desired action.
• Action-Oriented: Use imperative verbs (e.g., "Buy Now," "Sign Up").
• Prominent Placement: Ensure visibility and accessibility.
• Strong Value Proposition: Highlight the benefits of taking the desired action.
• Sense of Urgency (Optional): Create a sense of time-limited opportunity (e.g., "Limited Time Offer").

Example of an effective CTA:

Leveraging A/B Testing

A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of a web page or app against each other to determine which performs better. It's a cornerstone of CRO

• Prioritise High-Impact Areas: Focus on pages or elements with the highest potential impact on conversions and start with the pages which are known to have conversion issues.
• Clear and Testable Hypotheses: Define specific goals and expectations for each test. Focus on one variable at a time to isolate impacts.
• Sufficient Testing Periods: Allow sufficient time for data collection to draw reliable conclusions. Consider seasonal or cyclical factors that might influence results.

By combining UX and CRO, businesses can create a holistic approach to optimisation that drives both user satisfaction and conversions.

Measuring SXO Success

Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of an SXO strategy. By establishing clear metrics and regularly monitoring performance, businesses can identify areas for improvement and optimise their efforts.

Developing an SXO Scorecard

An SXO scorecard provides a holistic view of performance by combining important metrics into a single framework. By establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and setting clear benchmarks, businesses can track progress and identify areas for improvement.

Identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Selecting the right KPIs is essential for measuring SXO success. Select metrics that align with business goals and provide valuable insights.

You could consider some of the following common metrics:

• SEO KPIs: Organic search traffic, keyword rankings, click-through rates, bounce rate.
• UX KPIs: User satisfaction, page load time, mobile friendliness, net promoter score.
• CRO KPIs: Conversion rate, average order value, customer lifetime value, customer acquisition cost.
• Business KPIs: Revenue, profit, market share, customer retention.

SXO metrics and how to measure them

Establishing Benchmarks and Targets

Setting realistic goals based on industry standards and internal capabilities will also be crucial for measuring progress and identifying areas for improvement.

• Baseline performance: Establish current performance levels for each KPI.
• Setting realistic goals: Define achievable targets based on industry benchmarks and business objectives.
• Prioritising KPIs: Focus on the most important metrics that align with business goals.

Creating an SXO Performance Dashboard

Just as you would for a specific digital marketing channel like SEO, we need to have an overall SXO dashboard too. Think about how you can visualise key metrics in one place to track performance over time and make it easy for stakeholders to understand how SXO performance is going overall and for each individual segment.

Some tips on what to include:

• Visual representation: Use charts, graphs, and tables to display key metrics.
• Real-time data: Incorporate real-time data for timely insights.
• Customisable views: Allow users to filter and segment data based on specific needs.

By combining these elements, businesses can create a robust SXO performance dashboard that provides valuable insights into overall performance.

Conclusion

By embracing Search Experience Optimisation (SXO), businesses can unlock the full potential of their online presence. By integrating SEO, UX, and CRO, organisations can create exceptional experiences that drive organic growth, enhance user satisfaction, and ultimately achieve business objectives.

It’s important to understand that like anything in search and user design, SXO is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring, analysis, and optimisation. By prioritising user needs, leveraging combined data insights from multiple channels and maintaining a holistic view of your digital strategy, businesses will be able to supercharge their full funnel strategy and nurture sustainable customer growth.