One simple truth is redefining the marketing landscape: consumers are getting smarter. With businesses like Amazon setting an increasingly high bar for customer experience, doing the bare minimum is no longer enough — especially when algorithms are learning to judge website quality on how much businesses care about their customers. But with so few willing to invest in delivering quality online experiences for their customers, what’s to be done?

Join hosts Siobhan Solberg and Russell McAthy as they catch up with Jono Alderson, head of SEO for Yoast, digital strategist, and award-winning marketing expert. Listen in to hear Jono’s views on prioritizing customer experience, the importance of accessibility for SEO, and why images are criminal. Plus, stay around until the end for Jono’s challenge to our listeners (it may win you a beer!)

In this episode:

• Considering the tools and research available, does having a slow website suggest you don’t care about your customers?
• Are disruptive companies investing in developing fancy yet ineffective SPAs (Single Page Applications) just as bad as old-fashioned businesses that rely on outdated tech?
• Today, the only differentiator between brands is whether or not customers want to shop with you, so doing the bare minimum to keep your website functional is not enough.
• Many organizations can’t deliver quality experiences as this has never been their focus. Without an organizational restructure, site optimization is a losing battle.
• Are algorithmically-driven systems like Google, Meta, and Amazon preventing some brands from reaching their audiences?
• Site speed is about more than load time; it’s impacted by accessibility, trends, and a business’s operations, including tech stacks, leadership, and marketing strategies.
• Why are businesses so hesitant to invest in improving their sites and marketing, despite their importance for driving growth?
• If you’re reacting to what a competitor is doing, you’re already too late; businesses need to be proactive in giving their marketing teams the resources and investment they need.
• Website quality scores are no longer based on site speed alone but on whether a company is taking steps to improve and is considered deserving of a high ranking.
• How is Google’s website analysis algorithm evolving to assess whether businesses care about their customers?
• Site speed isn’t about customers being irritated by slow load times but reducing the friction experienced as they browse.
• Why do so many businesses fail to use images appropriately?
• A complete organizational restructure is often the best solution to a poor website quality score. But when this isn’t feasible, what are brands to do?
• Should we treat mobile differently from desktop, or has this separation led to businesses’ hesitancy to invest in better experiences?

Resources:

Jono’s website

Jono on LinkedIn

Jono on Twitter

Yoast for Shopify