The general misunderstanding is that web accessibility standards stand in a way of search engine optimization tactics preventing SEO experts from doing their job properly. Well, that’s not true. In fact, SEO and web accessibility overlap in many areas.
Web accessibility has recently become a hot topic in the digital marketing industry due to a wave of widely publicized scandals, that is, web users suing big and small businesses[1] for failing to provide them with a smooth user experience.
Moreover, Google helps to raise awareness by helping web accessibility standards to be widely adopted. Google has official guidelines[2] explaining accessibility and how they help create a better user experience.
Broadly speaking, when we say a site is accessible, we mean that the site’s content is available, and its functionality can be operated, by literally anyone.
And yet, while smart marketers have recognized the tangible benefit of making your site accessible (that is, making it possible for more web users to buy from your site), web accessibility seldom makes it to marketing priority lists.
What if I told you that by making a site accessible you can actually improve your SEO? Let’s see how:
1. Site and page structure
The foundation of web accessibility is very similar to that of an SEO strategy[3]: You need a clear, logical site and page structure.
1.1. Site structure
Site-wise this includes:
- Clear navigation
- Sitemaps
- Breadcrumbs
All of those elements are considered essential for SEO[4] too to provide search bots with an easy way to crawl and understand the site structure. According to Google[5]:
The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines