DiscoverThe Edward ShowWhy UX Beats SEO Best Practices (and Gets Better Rankings)
Why UX Beats SEO Best Practices (and Gets Better Rankings)

Why UX Beats SEO Best Practices (and Gets Better Rankings)

Update: 2025-09-25
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Description

E813 - Most marketers obsess over SEO best practices - keywords, backlinks, and technical tweaks. But the truth is, user experience (UX) often does more for your rankings than traditional SEO tactics.

I share the UX principles that drive real SEO results, reduce bounce rates, and keep visitors coming back.

These are the same principles I’ve used to grow traffic, improve conversions, and build long-term SEO wins.

What you’ll learn:
- Why pogo sticking hurts your SEO and how UX prevents it
- The power of clarity over cleverness in copy and design
- Real examples of copy tests that improved conversions
- How information architecture improves both crawlability and user navigation
- Progressive disclosure: showing details at the right time
- The importance of consistent design patterns across your site
- How headings, white space, and scannable layouts keep users engaged
- Why mobile-first design is essential for SEO and usability
- The role of page speed and how to test it the right way (not just with tools)
- Accessibility principles that improve SEO and user trust
- How to use alt text effectively to describe images and improve content
- Smart pop-up timing that helps instead of hurts
- Matching search intent with the right content and layout
- Using Fitts’s Law to improve calls-to-action and navigation
- How to create helpful 404 pages that preserve SEO value and guide users

SEO gets people in the door, but UX makes them stay. If you want higher rankings, more conversions, and repeat visitors, focusing on UX is non-negotiable.

⭐️ First 1000 Newsletter - On Cute Copy - https://read.first1000.co/p/about-cute-copy
⭐️ Fitts’ Law: https://www.figma.com/resource-library/fitts-law/
⭐️ Alexander Vilinskyy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vilinskyy/

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 Unconventional SEO
00:38 Why User Experience Matters for SEO
01:23 Clarity Over Cleverness
03:08 Importance of Information Architecture
05:40 Mobile-First Design Principles
06:46 Testing and Page Speed
07:47 Accessibility and Pop-Ups
08:21 Understanding User Intent
08:52 Fitts’ Law and Easy Navigation
09:27 Handling Errors and 404 Pages

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#indiehackers #searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing #uiux

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Why UX Beats SEO Best Practices (and Gets Better Rankings)

Why UX Beats SEO Best Practices (and Gets Better Rankings)

Edward Sturm