Website UX & SEO-Friendly Design

UX Design and SEO A Unified Strategy

Good SEO doesn’t stop at keywords or backlinks—it requires a user-friendly website. Google rewards pages that offer excellent experiences, especially on mobile. This module breaks down the UX elements that impact SEO, how to evaluate your design, and how to implement updates that benefit both users and search engines.

UX Elements that Impact SEO

Mobile Responsiveness

What It Is:

Your site must render and function properly on mobile devices. Mobile-first indexing means Google evaluates the mobile version of your site first.

Why It Matters:

Most cannabis shoppers use mobile. If your site breaks on small screens or is hard to navigate, bounce rates increase and rankings drop.

How to Check It:

• Run your URL through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
  
• Browse your site on different phones and tablets.
  

What to Do:

• Use responsive design.
  
• Ensure menus, buttons, and forms are easy to use on touchscreens.
  

🔗 Read: Cannabis Website Mobile Optimization Guide

Navigation & Menu Structure

What It Is:

Your top and footer menus, dropdowns, and internal navigation help both users and bots explore your site.

Why It Matters:

Clear navigation improves crawlability, keeps users engaged, and ensures SEO authority flows to priority pages.

How to Check It:

• Map out your main nav structure.
  
• Use Screaming Frog to see how search engines crawl your site.
  

What to Do:

• Link to core category and landing pages from the homepage.
  
• Avoid orphan pages and excessive subfolder nesting.

🔗 Explore: Best Practices for SEO-Friendly Navigation

Conversion-Friendly Landing Pages

What It Is:

These are goal-oriented pages—whether you're collecting emails, showcasing a promotion, or driving product purchases.

Why It Matters:

Good SEO brings traffic. Great UX converts it. Landing pages are where SEO ROI is realized.

How to Check It:

• Review top landing pages in Google Analytics.
  
• Use heatmaps to study how users interact with CTAs.
  

What to Do:

• Write concise copy.
  
• Use a single CTA and clean layout to reduce distraction.
  

 🔗 Learn: How to Build Cannabis Landing Pages that Convert

Visual Hierarchy (Readability & CTAs)

What It Is:

Using font size, color, spacing, and layout to prioritize content and guide users visually.

Why It Matters:

Readable, visually organized pages lead to longer sessions, lower bounce rates, and better SEO.

How to Check It:

• Skim each page as if you were a new visitor—can you find the headline, CTA, and key content quickly?

What to Do:

• Use larger font sizes for headings.
  
• Highlight buttons and reduce clutter with white space.

🔗 Guide: Visual Design Tips for Cannabis Websites

Accessibility (ADA Compliance & Alt Text)

What It Is:

Accessibility ensures that all users—including those with disabilities—can access your website.

Why It Matters:

ADA-compliant sites expand audience reach, reduce legal risk, and improve SEO through features like alt text.

How to Check It:

• Use tools like WAVE or Lighthouse to audit accessibility.

What to Do:

• Add descriptive alt text to all images.
  
• Ensure sufficient color contrast and keyboard accessibility.

🔗 See: Accessibility Checklist for Cannabis Brands

Closing Tip

Great SEO doesn’t just bring visitors—it keeps them engaged. By aligning your UX design with SEO principles, you not only improve rankings but also create a seamless path to conversion. Design for users first, and search engines will follow.