Recent projects have brought the principles of User Expreience and Search Engine Optimization to the top of the list in my interactions with colleagues at work. Of course, those principles (and practice) are always at the top of my list. So the question often is, how to get others to connect with the concepts and see the value.
In the midst of a discussion of the importance of UX and SEO, I realized that it’s useful to elevate it to more than a way to get more people to your Web site or increase your repeat visitors, as important as those outcomes are. But, User Expreience and Search Engine Optimization are really the practice of the Golden Rule. They are active ways of loving your neighbor as yourself. For an organization committed to furthering Christian principles and leading by example, that’s a very compelling reason to passionately pursue excellence in User Experience and success in Search Engine Optimization.
Think about it this way: If there was information on the Web that you needed, wouldn’t you be grateful if someone went to the trouble of being sure that you could find it? And once you found it, wouldn’t it be great if it was clear and usable, even delightful to experience and digest? Of course, you’d want all that. Then shouldn’t you do the same for others?
It’s not enough to look at UX and SEO as opportunities that benefit us that we’ll get to when we have the time or resources. We need to see them as responsibilities to our audience that we need to fulfill; that we do not have the option of NOT fulfilling. And the great thing is, fulfilling that responsibility will only benefit us as well. It’s truly a case of “What blesses one, blesses all.”
