User experience (UX)
The overall experience a person has when interacting with your website.
Why UX matters for business
Good user experience reduces friction between visitors and their goals. Whether booking a demo, reading content, or making purchases, smooth UX accelerates action. Poor UX creates obstacles that drive visitors away.
UX directly impacts conversion rates. Confusing navigation, slow performance, unclear CTAs, or mobile-unfriendly designs all reduce conversions measurably. Even minor friction compounds—each obstacle loses more visitors.
Core UX elements
Navigation clarity: Can visitors find what they need quickly? Information architecture should reflect how people think, not internal org charts. Mobile responsiveness: Does everything work perfectly on phones? Most traffic comes from mobile. Fast performance: Do pages load instantly? Every second delay reduces engagement and conversions.
Clear communication: Do visitors immediately understand what you offer and why it matters? Accessibility: Can everyone use your site regardless of ability? Good accessibility improves UX for everyone, not just those with disabilities.
UX and SEO connection
Search engines increasingly factor UX signals into rankings through Core Web Vitals and engagement metrics. Fast load times, mobile-friendliness, and low bounce rates all indicate good UX—and correlate with better rankings.
Dwell time, pages per session, and return visitor rates signal content quality and UX effectiveness. Search engines reward sites that visitors engage with extensively, interpreting engagement as quality signals.
UX-first design philosophy
We design for users first, search engines second. This approach delivers better outcomes for both. Sites optimised purely for algorithms often sacrifice usability. User-focused sites naturally generate engagement signals that algorithms reward.
Every design decision asks: Does this serve visitor goals? Does it reduce friction? Does it communicate clearly? This UX-first approach delivers better conversions, engagement, and ultimately, better search performance.
Related terms
Why it matters
Understanding “User experience (UX)” helps you speak the same language as our design and development team. If you need help applying it to your project, book a Fernside call.