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The SEO’s Guide to UX Fundamentals and Conversion Rate Strategy

Written by: Natasha Post Tags: critical thinking, future of seo, content

Published: Oct 20, 2025

Ten years ago, or even five really, an SEO’s job was simple – create content that drives traffic to the website. In today’s marketing landscape, that isn’t the case anymore. 

We’re seeing traffic decrease across the board with LLMs, AIOs, and other variables that keep potential customers/clients off the website. 

Content has gone from the basic fulfilling of intent, to ensuring that every person who visits your website has an experience. 

Many times, that experience determines whether the visitor becomes a conversion, or whether they rage-click off the site. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: 

You can have all the traffic in the world, but if no one converts, that traffic doesn’t matter. And without traffic? There’s no one to convert. 

Search Engine Optimization and Conversion Rate Optimization need a strong marriage to create a compelling and high converting User Experience. 

UX, SEO, and CRO: A throuple made to last

"People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole," Theodore Levitt

Chances are you’ve heard this phrase before, and if you haven’t, we’re going to break it down in terms of search marketing in a moment. But first, let’s define and break down each portion of our throuple. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the content written for your website, targeted toward user intent and driving traffic.

User Experience (UX) refers to the overall experience your customer or user has when interacting with your website, brand, or product. 

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) uses A/B or similar testing opportunities to increase an intended action on a page. 

Now we know each component of this trifecta, so let’s go back to our quarter-inch hole theory. 

In terms of search and hitting your website, having cookie cutter content and a stale theme isn’t going to cut it anymore. Especially in the age of AI. Will consumers care if your content is created by AI? Most probably won’t be able to tell (and that's okay). 

What they will be able to tell, is if that content is giving them an experience. There are thousands of products and services that solve problems. 

So what makes your intended customer decide to complete the task on your site? The experience you provide them, by knowing exactly how they want to feel both during and after the purchase journey. 

That's why the landing page has to work with that purchase journey. 

Users want the path of least resistance when it comes to any stage of your funnel.

If your landing page doesn’t provide a great experience, both in content and visuals, chances are you’re going to lose several conversions in the process. 

I’m an SEO specialist, man! Not a designer!

Okay, if you didn’t get the Bones reference from Star Trek, I suddenly feel old. 

You might be thinking that as an SEO specialist, your job is simply to create the content, and ensure that it’s optimized for on-page and off-page SEO. 

Maybe once upon a time that was true, but honestly, it’s very hard to have an SEO segmented from the rest of the team. Whether you’re in-house or agency, doing the research, writing and optimizing isn’t enough anymore. 

No one is asking you to be a dev or a designer. (Though, admittedly, I have been both. Not by choice. That ended badly. I digress.) 

Ideally, you have a team that can do all the things that need to be done, but you, as the SEO specialist, should know the basics, so you can help create a landing page that works, and test what doesn’t. 

Why? 

Because when SEO + UX are done correctly, the intended audience is able to reach their goal more quickly. They want the path of least resistance, while also having an experience that meets their needs. The better you do this, the more likely they are to convert. 

The more likely they are to convert, the more likely your SEO efforts have helped achieve company goals. That makes you a superstar in front of leadership or your clients.

How to get started on your SEO, UX, and CRO journey

You’ve been doing SEO for years. So how do you get involved in UX and CRO? 

You don’t have to do anything outlandish or outside your skill set. There are several ways you can start implementing user experience and conversion rate optimization into your content, to ensure that it does more than just drive traffic. Especially since traffic is declining. 

Besides, you don’t just want any traffic. You want the right kind of traffic. And that right kind of traffic, wants reassurance and confidence in their decision to purchase from or use your company's services. 

Here are a few tips to get you started on your UX and CRO journey. 

Know your target customer

Depending on your industry, you may not have just one target customer. At the time of writing this, each of the websites I work on has at least two. 

But how do you determine your customer persona? How do you know if there is more than one? 

Start with SparkToro. Enter a website, URL, or even keyword and you'll get data on the basics of your audience; who is likely to visit, their top socials, and so on. If you’ve never used SparkToro, now is the time to try it and see what you can learn about where your customers hang out. 

Check the reviews for your company – and your competitors. Learn what your customer wants, needs, and what they absolutely hate, when it comes to dealing with the industry. 

There's a lot more to creating personas, but this is a good place to start. Because now that you have this information, you can dive down the rabbit hole to find out more about them. 

Speak to The One

“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.” Seth Godin

This is part of why generic content serves absolutely no one. Your customer has a specific goal in mind. And the way you speak to that one person to help solve their problem has a huge impact. 

Once you create and understand your persona, you can write content that speaks directly to them, and help increase your traffic and overall conversion rates. 

Use heatmapping tools to learn what your customer does on the page

If you’ve never used Microsoft Clarity it’s a great tool that offers heatmaps, recordings, and more. You can view what’s happening on a specific landing page. Some questions to ask:

1. How far down are your customers scrolling?
2. Are they bypassing the form? Not seeing the call button?
3. Maybe they’re rage clicking on an area because something makes them think it should be clickable. 

When you start looking at this data, you, along with your design team, can test your landing page design to see what works best for your customer. But remember, take it from someone who knows, what works for one landing page, doesn’t work for them all. 

Start with fundamental UX and CRO improvements

There’s a reason we joke about button color. Often times, it’s the basics that need tweaking first.

(If your button color blends into your site, chances are, that skimming customer, is going to easily miss it.)

Your website and/or landing page needs strong fundamentals first. Make sure it’s set up in a way that makes sense for your target audience and follows some known best practices first in terms of: Accessibility, beneficial value propositions, clear calls to action, great copywriting, visuals that make sense, and a fast loading page. 

Then test, test, test

The simpler you start, the easier it is for everyone involved – including the designer and dev who need to implement any visual changes. 

Again, Microsoft Clarity are great for this. You can watch recordings and study heatmaps to determine what’s happening on the page, and how you can use it to your advantage. 

You don’t need a testing platform (like Usertesting, HotJar, or Optimizely) to get started either. Your company may need you to “prove” there’s value in this before they put down money on a new product. That’s okay! You can create an SEO/CRU/UX test using the basics, like GA4.

Creating your first test: Hypothesis, Tracking, and Outcome

It sounds a little bit scientific, and really it is. This is where the creative mind, meets the analytical one. 

Let’s start with an easy test. I did this one myself, when I realized that our pages were not set up to focus on calls, but instead form submissions. 

1. Create your hypothesis

Here is the hypothesis I created for the "call conversions test".

Tiering the CTA via number (larger) than quote form (smaller) in the hero banner for clients who need an instant/urgent quote will cause our call leads to increase by 20%. 

Here’s a simple structure you can use to create yours. 

We believe that (_____________)

For (______________)

Will cause (___________)

Let’s break it down with my hypothesis. 

• We believe that [tiering the CTA via number (larger) than quote form (smaller) in the hero banner]
• For [clients who need an instant/urgent quote]
• Will cause [our call leads to increase by 20%]

You’re listing what you plan to do. 

Who you plan to do it for. 

And what your expected outcome is. 

2. Using GA4 or CallRail set your control period

The control period is tracking data on your test page as/is. You may already have things set up to get that data, but if you don’t, work with your team to set up a specific tracking number, so you can get accurate data of how many calls you’re getting on the original page. 

3. Work with your team to create the test page

We like to use Figma for this.

The designer, based on your notes, and a possible team meeting, creates an updated design in Figma.

This generally happens during the control period for my team. 

4. Implement the test

Once your control period is finished, have the designer hand off the new page to the dev for implementation.

Then, track your test for the same amount of time as your control period. If that was two weeks, your test period runs two weeks. 

Commit to a period of time that's long enough to gather data that allows you to make a confident choice, even if it's not scientifically statistically significant. 

5. Findings report

Once the test is over, analyze your findings. In the case of call conversions increase for my company, the results were as follows: 

Call Increase Rate: 263.6%

Conversion Rate increased: 18.26%

Conversion Uplift Rate: 310.34%

When you create a findings report, put the data in an easy-to-read format for leadership. They don’t need all the jargon, but what they do need is a clear picture on the results of the test. 

Make only a few simple, appropriate graphs and charts, and show your wins.

Remember, it’s okay for UX and CRO tests to provide negative results

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison

SEO, UX, and CRO make a great throuple. It’s true. But they, like all relationships, have conflict and disputes. What works for one, doesn’t always work for the other, and sometimes, you have to compromise. 

When you start testing, whether it’s SEO testing, CRO testing, or UX testing, if the experiment isn’t “successful” by your definition, that doesn’t mean it failed. 

Because you still learn something. You learn what doesn’t work. Or, maybe you learn something specific about how your customer thinks.

For example, maybe you got more time on page, but conversions haven’t increased. Okay, great, you found the language they like, because they’re staying on the page. Now, how to get them to convert? 

Go back and see what they’re doing, using Microsoft Clarity, or whatever tool you use. 

Then, you can create a new iteration to the test. Take it to the next step. 

Unsuccessful tests still provide data, so, really, it’s not a failure. You’ve just discovered what won’t work right now. 

Don’t be afraid to test. Don’t be afraid to reach beyond your limits in the growth marketing world. When your content not only drives traffic, but provides the target customer with the experience they’re seeking, and drives them to convert? 

Well, you might just be surprised at your accomplishments.

A few of my favorite SEO/CRO/UX resources and reads: 

• Emotional Targeting - Talia Wolf
• CXL 
• Guess the Test
• Friction - Robert Dooley
• What Your Customer Wants But Can’t Tell You - Melina Palmer
• Microsoft Clarity
• SparkToro