In 2024, Google's all about making websites more user-friendly. We, at StartupTalky, asked some of the smartest marketing and SEO experts how they're doing it.

They say it's not just about showing up in search results anymore. It's about making sure the audience loves using your site too. So, how do they do it?

With Google's focus on user experience, we'll learn how they ensure their websites meet these criteria while optimizing for SEO.

Now, let's get into their secrets for keeping Google happy while still making websites that people actually enjoy using. Get ready for some easy-to-follow advice from the pros!

Soumitra Sengupta, Fractional CMO and Growth Advisor
Chaitanya Kulkarni, Head, SEO and Analytics, Tring
Kiran James, Global Head of Marketing & Product Development, Muthoottu Mini Financiers Limited
Sumit Singh, CEO & Co-Founder, DashLoc
Ritu Parakh, Digital Marketing Manager, GREP
Pranjal Agarwal, VP-Brand Marketing, Mudrex, a Global Crypto Investment Platform
Nishant Shah, Head-Digital Marketing, Blue Buzz
Omm Dev Sharma, Founder, Mavericks Global
Kishore Acharya, SVP & Head of Marketing, Masai School

Soumitra Sengupta, Fractional CMO and Growth Advisor

With Google's focus on user experience, I ensure my website meets these criteria while optimizing for SEO by:

• Ensuring faster load times
• Usage of Schema wherever possible
• Making sure the query intent is resolved with the first 2 scrolls of the reader

Chaitanya Kulkarni, Head, SEO and Analytics, Tring

The best way to focus on user experience is to start focusing on Core Web Vitals. It is not just how fast your website loads on every internet connection and browser. It is also how the media on the website/page loads while giving a pleasant and smooth experience for the end user. This should be impactful in terms of duration of visit, sales, or lead generation.

Kiran James, Global Head of Marketing & Product Development, Muthoottu Mini Financiers Ltd

Ensuring our website meets Google's user experience criteria while optimizing for SEO is paramount. We prioritize site speed by optimizing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and leveraging browser caching. Mobile responsiveness is crucial, so we use responsive design and test across various devices. Clear navigation and intuitive site structure enhance user experience and help search engines crawl our site efficiently.

We prioritize high-quality, relevant content that answers users' queries and provides value. Using descriptive meta tags and headers improves accessibility and helps users navigate content easily. We also focus on reducing bounce rates by offering engaging multimedia content and interactive elements.

Regularly auditing our site for technical issues and fixing errors promptly ensures a seamless user experience. Additionally, soliciting and responding to user feedback helps us identify areas for improvement and prioritize user satisfaction.

By balancing user experience with SEO optimization, we create a website that not only ranks well but also provides a positive experience for visitors, ultimately driving long-term success.

Sumit Singh, CEO & Co-Founder, DashLoc

To align with Google’s user experience focus while optimizing for SEO, we prioritize several key factors. Primarily, we optimize website speed to ensure fast loading times, facilitating quick access to content for users.

Additionally, we prioritize a mobile-friendly design, ensuring responsiveness across various devices for seamless browsing experiences. Clear navigation is maintained to facilitate intuitive information retrieval, while high-quality content is created to engage and inform users effectively.

We focus on readability and accessibility, using clear language and accessible formats to cater to all users. Furthermore, multimedia elements are optimized to enhance user experience, and interactive elements are incorporated to encourage user engagement.

Regular analysis of feedback and data allows us to continually refine website usability and effectiveness, ensuring a positive user experience while maximizing SEO performance.

Ritu Parakh, Digital Marketing Manager, GREP

The key to this strategy is to prioritize the main aspects that help in making the user experience better which are, site speed, mobile responsiveness, and site architecture.

Firstly, we use Google PageSpeed to continuously monitor and improve the website loading speed which gives a better experience to our users and a positive impact on search engines.

Secondly, we make sure all our features are available on mobile first because we get the highest traffic from the mobile and then followed by the website. This not only enhances user satisfaction but also aligns with Google’s mobile-first indexing.

Additionally, we also make sure the site structure is well organised, clear, and user-friendly which will help them to navigate and find the information which they are looking for. This strategy has definitely helped us in reducing the bounce rate.

Pranjal Agarwal, VP-Brand Marketing, Mudrex, a Global Crypto Investment Platform

Google's core ranking systems look to reward content that provides a good page experience. At Mudrex, we have effectively addressed Google's core ranking criteria:

• Focus on User Metrics in Analytics: User engagement metrics like avg. time on page, bounce rate, and pageviews per user will help you evaluate your content’s effectiveness.
• Core Web Vitals: Our pages meet the CWV standards, ensuring a good page experience.
• Mobile Optimization: Our mobile-first and mobile-friendly design approach aligns with Google's preference for mobile-first indexing.

Nishant Shah, Head-Digital Marketing, Blue Buzz

Google's emphasis on user experience has significantly influenced our website design and optimization strategies. We prioritize creating a seamless and intuitive browsing experience for our users by focusing on factors such as page speed, mobile responsiveness, and site navigation.

We regularly conduct usability tests and gather feedback from our users to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments. Additionally, we optimize our website's structure and internal linking to ensure that users can easily find the information they're looking for.

By aligning with Google's UX criteria, we not only improve our search engine rankings but also enhance user satisfaction and retention.

Omm Dev Sharma, Founder, Mavericks Global

While optimizing for SEO, we prioritize user experience by focusing on several key aspects:

• We regularly check our website's core web vitals using tools to ensure optimal performance in areas such as loading times, interactivity, and visual stability.
• Additionally, we emphasize intuitive navigation, clear call-to-actions, and mobile responsiveness to enhance the overall user experience.
• Our approach includes continuous monitoring and improvement based on user feedback and behavior analysis.

Kishore Acharya, SVP & Head of Marketing, Masai School

We regularly audit our site for usability issues, optimize for mobile devices, and prioritize page speed. We also pay attention to metrics such as bounce rate, dwell time, and click-through rate to gauge user engagement and make necessary adjustments to improve the overall user experience. We constantly strive to improve the quality, trustworthiness, and depth of our website content.