People with disabilities are three times less likely to use the Internet on a daily basis compared to people with no disabilities
MIAMI (PRWEB)
September 28, 2022
A Pew Research survey shows that 62% of American adults with a disability own a computer or laptop, while 72% of them own a smartphone. Unlike people with no disabilities, they are three times less likely to use the Internet daily, one of the main reasons being Internet inaccessibility. This suggests that most businesses are missing the opportunity to deliver great user experience and drive higher web traffic through these audiences.
DesignRush, a B2B marketplace that connects businesses with agencies, tapped its 16,000 agency strong network for Quick Insights — or “QuickSights” — to ask experts if web accessibility improves SEO.
1) ACCESSIBLE WEBSITES ACT AS NON-ACCESSIBLE
According to Nicolas Miller, SEO Manager at Infinite Ideas Web Design, accessible websites perform better because they improve user experience.
“Different studies have found that websites with more accessibility features have better SEO rankings than those without them,” Miller said. “Even on Google Lighthouse (a tool to improve the quality of web pages), accessibility is one of the metrics they check alongside performance. Web accessibility is useful for SEO because it increases the number of people accessing your site and the content thereof [while] improving user experience and brand loyalty.”
Developing Digital founder and director Oliver Caprile shares the same opinion and emphasizes that reducing the click depth of pages improves Google rankings.
“Website accessibility is incredibly important for SEO, as Google’s John Mueller has stated that crawl depth (or page accessibility as it stands) is more important than URL structure itself,” Caprile said. “We have seen a number of our clients’ websites improve the keywords of specific pages[ings] by reducing the click depth of each page to less than 2 clicks.”
2) VARIOUS WEB ACCESSIBILITY ELEMENTS CAN AFFECT ORGANIC PLACE
As stated by Anatoly Zadorozhnyy, CEO of Marketing 1on1, some elements, such as using proper alt tags to help understand what an image is about, can affect SEO rankings.
“Until now, accessibility is not considered a ranking factor,” Zadorozhnyy said. “However, depending on what you use to make your site accessible, it can affect your rankings in a positive way. For example, adding proper alt tags to help screen readers understand what the image is about can also improve your overall Boost SEO rankings.
3) WEB ACCESSIBILITY HELPS TO ENHANCE USER EXPERIENCE
Marko Arsic, SEO Director at Digital Silk, shares that web accessibility helps follow UX best practices which play an important role in organic rankings.
“Web accessibility ensures that some of the best UX practices are followed (optimization of headings, anchor links, alt tags, easier reading, etc.),” said Arsic. “User experience is a crucial part of Google’s algorithm when ranking organic results, so by working on web accessibility we are actually working on SEO optimization.”
Alamo City Marketing Solutions Owner-Operator Evan Swanson agrees on this point, adding that web accessibility elements provide value to users.
“Accessibility is not a core SEO ranking factor, but most of the most important elements on a web page are the same elements that a screen reader picks up on, which will result in added value for the user,” Swanson said. “With Google detecting the presence of these elements and improving the user experience, you can benefit from organic rankings. On the websites I’ve designed and revamped, I’ve seen a boost in organic rankings by improving or implementing web accessibility tactics.”
Opanova Digital Owner Aja Miyamoto also believes that web accessibility best practices improve SEO.
“Web accessibility improves SEO as it is the inclusive practice of providing equal access to web interaction, including search engines,” Miyamoto said. “Many of the best practices for building accessible web designs, such as readable text, simple navigation, and fast load times, also improve user experience. It also plays a crucial role in SEO and ranking factors.
DesignRush released the September list of the best SEO companies that can help businesses fully optimize their website for both users and search engines.
1. FroBro Web Technologies – frobro.com
Expertise: Web Design, Hosting Services, SEO and more
2. Evolving Digital – evolvingdigital.com.au
Expertise: SEO, Content Marketing, Web Design and more
3. Digital Silk – digitalsilk.com
Expertise: Web design and development, SEO, copywriting and more
4. Infinite Ideas Web Design – infiniteideaswebdesign.com
Expertise: SEO, web design, e-commerce development and more
5. Digital Velocity and SEO – teamdigitalvelocity.com
Expertise: PPC Management, SEO, Web Design and more
6. Allure SEO – allureseo.com
Expertise: Local SEO, Google Map Optimization, Technical SEO and more
7. Marketing 1on1 – digitalmarketing1on1.com
Expertise: SEO Consulting, Ecommerce SEO, Local SEO and more
8. Alamo City Marketing Solutions – marketingsolutions-tx.com
Expertise: UX/UI design, digital marketing, advertising and more
9. Adsential Marketing – adsentialmarketing.com
Expertise: Website SEO Audit, Search Engine Marketing, Web Design and more
10. California SEO Service – californiaseoservice.com
Expertise: WordPress development, SEO, PPC management and more
11. Opanova Digital – opanovadigital.com
Expertise: Digital Strategy, SEO, Web Design and more
12. Bakklog – bakklog.com
Expertise: Web design and development, SEO, app development and more
13. Content Spotlight – contentspotlight.org
Expertise: Copywriting and Content Marketing, SEO Audits and Analysis, Search Engine Marketing and more
14. Gear SEO – gearseo.com.br
Expertise: Content Creation, SEO, Link Building and more
15. Hot local spot – hotlocalspot.com
Expertise: Website Audit, Market Research, Local SEO and more
16. Live Web Media – livewebmedia.com
Expertise: SEO, Web Development, App Development and more
17. Alignment Online Marketing – alignmentonline.com
Expertise: Website Performance Audits, Local Business SEO, Off-Site SEO & Link Building and more
18. Wavelength Web Design – wavelengthwebdesign.ie
Expertise: Web Design, Digital Marketing, SEO and more
Brands can explore the top SEO companies by location, size, average hourly rate and portfolio on DesignRush.
About DesignRush:
DesignRush.com is a B2B marketplace that connects businesses with agencies through expert reviews and agency rankings, awards, knowledge resources and personalized agency recommendations for vetted projects.
