Der Einfluss von Usability-Faktoren auf die SEO-Performance

Abstract

In today's digital world, the success of websites is increasingly dependent on the extent to which they are optimized for both users and search engines. Traditional search engine optimization focuses primarily on technical measures and content optimization. However, usability is also increasingly coming to the fore as a ranking factor. The aim of this thesis is to systematically investigate the relationship between usability and SEO. The central question is to what extent usability influences the SEO performance of a website. This question is relevant for companies, agencies and web developers, as a userfriendly website not only contributes to improving the user experience, but can also increase visibility in search engines. The first part of the paper sets out the theoretical framework. According to ISO 9241-11, usability is defined as the extent to which a product can be used effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily by defined users in a specific application context. In the digital environment, this is particularly evident in the areas of structure, navigation, loading time and mobile optimization. Search engine optimization refers to all measures aimed at increasing the visibility of a website in organic search results. This process encompasses a variety of technical, content-related and structural aspects. A qualitative methodology was used in the empirical part of the thesis. In the course of this, five experts from the fields of SEO and usability were interviewed using guided interviews. The evaluation was based on qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. In this context, the relevance of specific characteristics of usability for SEO criteria was addressed in particular. The evaluation of the interviews and the literature clearly shows that usability is an integral part of successful search engine optimization. The relevance of certain factors was highlighted in the literature and in the comments of experts. These include mobile optimization, fast loading times, clearly structured content and intuitive navigation. These elements not only contribute to optimizing the user experience, but also directly influence SEOrelevant key figures such as dwell time, bounce rate and click behaviour. These metrics have an influence on the ranking process of search engines such as Google.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	René Riedl (Supervisor)