The Impact of Web Accessibility on SEO: A Hidden Benefit

When you’re considering how to improve your website, you probably think about things like design, content, speed, etc. But there's one factor that often gets overlooked: web accessibility. Web accessibility is important not only because it helps to give users with disabilities a better experience, but also because it is important for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

What is Web Accessibility?

Web accessibility is the practice of designing and developing websites so that people with disabilities can use them. It includes making sure that your website is accessible to people who are visually, audibly, metrically or cognitively disabled.

For example:

• Describing the text of the images (alt text), to help those that use screen readers.

• To make sure that the website can be navigated only by a keyboard by people with motor disabilities.

• Ensuring that the content can be read easily by people who suffer from cognitive overload.

But how does this connect to SEO? Let’s break it down.

1. Improved User Experience (UX) = Better SEO

In fact, Google and other search engines prefer the user experience. The more relevant the content is and the easier it is to navigate a website, the faster it loads, the higher it will rank. When your website is accessible, everyone benefits, including those with disabilities. A positive user experience leads to:

• Lower bounce rates (fewer people leaving your site quickly).

• Longer time spent on your site (because users can find what they need more easily).

• More returning visitors (because they had a good experience).

If search engines understand that your site is valuable they will rank it higher in the search results, which is good for SEO.

2. Alt Text and SEO: A Powerful Duo

Alt text for images is one of the most important parts of web accessibility. Screen readers are tools that read aloud to visually impaired users and alt text is a written description of an image that screen readers can read out. While alt text is for accessibility, it’s also a great way to boost your SEO.

Using descriptive alt text allows search engines to understand what’s in your image and be able to index it. It can help your website show up in image search results, which means more organic traffic to your site. Improving both accessibility and SEO is as simple as adding alt text.

3. Accessible Websites are Mobile-Friendly

Accessibility and being mobile friendly are hand in hand. In addition to these are many accessibility features, such as responsive design and easily readable text, which are also important for mobile users. In fact, Google ranks mobile friendly pages higher in search results.

It’s likely that your website will also perform better on mobile devices if it’s designed to be accessible (larger fonts, clear navigation, and mobile optimized layouts). This can also help your site rank higher in mobile search results, and therefore improve your overall SEO.

4. Faster Loading Times = Better Rankings

Another important factor for SEO is that website accessibility can also mean faster loading times. For instance:

• Smaller file sizes often lead to faster loading times as optimized images for screen readers (with alt text) are often more optimized.

• Large and heavy files that slow down the website are not used by accessible websites.

A better experience for all users correlates with faster loading times, and search engines like Google do account for loading time as it ranks websites. Therefore, making your website more accessible, can directly improve its performance and search ranking.

5. Better Internal Linking and Navigation

Cleaner and logical structures are more often found in accessible websites. To give you a concrete example, giving screen reader users better website navigation and keyboard shortcuts should result in internal links becoming better organized and the page hierarchy becoming clearer.

Well structured website helps search engines understand your content more efficiently by using internal links to crawl and index your website. Making your site easier for people with disabilities to navigate also makes it easier for search engines to crawl and rank your pages.

6. Meeting Legal and Ethical Standards

Web accessibility is not just good practice in some countries; it’s the law. If you don’t meet accessibility standards, you could face lawsuits or fines. This is an important ethical consideration, but it also helps with your SEO efforts. If a website follows best practices for accessibility, it is more likely to follow best practices for other SEO best practices, and perform better in search rankings.

7. Increased Reach and Audience Engagement

If you make your website accessible, you’re increasing the potential audience for your website. A large portion of internet users are people with disabilities. The World Health Organization says that some 1 billion people around the world are disabled. Making your website accessible to this audience can result in more traffic, more conversion, a better online reputation, and so on.

The good news is that more traffic and engagement from more people signals to search engines that your site is worth something, which can help increase your SEO ranking.

8. Voice Search Optimization

As voice search is growing, accessibility becomes even more important. Natural language search is often used by people who use voice assistants (such as Google Assistant or Siri) who can be a little more conversational. Voice search algorithms can understand easier accessible websites, with clear, well structured content and proper semantic HTML.

Optimizing for accessibility means you’re also optimizing for voice search, which can drive more organic traffic to your site and boost your SEO ranking.

Conclusion:

Web accessibility isn’t just about being ethical and inclusive, it’s a smart SEO strategy that will drive more traffic, improve user experience, and help you rank higher on search engines. The benefits of accessibility are clear: improving your site’s usability and load times, improving your image SEO, and making your site mobile friendly.

If you want to boost your website's SEO and reach a larger, more engaged audience, it’s time to prioritize web accessibility. Not only will you create a better experience for all users, but you'll also set your site up for long-term success in search rankings.

So, the next time you think about SEO, remember: web accessibility is not just a hidden benefit—it’s a game changer.