Search engine optimisation has a search engine focus, but a secondary part of that focus is to please your site’s users. Reputable SEO firms will not view an SEO campaign as truly successful unless increased traffic translates into increased outcomes for the business. This means that while the way that search engines move through your site is a primary concern for SEO, the movements of your human users are just as important.
One of the most important things to understand about user movement on your site is the diagonal scan pattern. Almost all internet users scan rather than read web pages. This is particularly true when users come from a search engine. When users are looking for specific information, they tend to scan diagonally, back and forth, waiting for words to jump out at them. Users read around four times faster with this initial scan than they do normally. A lot of information can get left behind unless you work with your users.
There are several sections of your page that will stand out naturally. Your title, subtitles, pictures or graphics, highlighted text, navigation and article summary are all things that will strike the eye of your user as they first scan the page. The first three words of any paragraph and words at the edges of paragraphs also have a good chance of being noticed. Every one of these areas should be used to put across the information that is most important to you.
Keywords are important on your page, and not just for SEO purposes. They will be part of what your user is looking for when they scan the page. After all, the keywords on an optimised page will be the terms the user used when searching. Placing the keywords in prominent places should be a part of a page’s SEO, and you can talk to our experts at SEO Consult about on-page SEO techniques. Placing other important terms and information near your keywords ensures that they are in the best position to be noticed.
Providing a summary of two to three short sentences at the beginning of a piece ensures that your main points will be remembered. This is because your user will construct a brief summary of their own in their head as they scan the article. A summary ensures that the message of the piece is formed in a way you choose, avoiding misunderstandings.
Headings are also important for summary purposes. Distributing subheadings throughout your content makes it easier for the user’s eye to break it down, and also highlights important concepts for the search engines. This and other common SEO techniques used on highlighted text are helpful to your users, as they place important information in places their eye will naturally travel.
It is important to distribute these eye-catching techniques throughout the text, not in clumps. Again, the diagonal scan pattern should be a guide. Highlighted words should be scattered throughout text, and subheadings set at infrequent spaces in order to catch the eye. Remember the diagonal, and your methods will be more effective.
