As a business owner, it’s essential to ensure that your website is visually appealing and user-friendly, and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Apart from being the right thing to do, it can also tremendously impact your search engine optimization (SEO) and business growth.
However, it is far from easy. You must have a strategy to get it right and follow certain conventions to improve your website’s SEO with ADA compliance.
Following the best ADA compliance practices can boost your website’s ranking in search results and make it more accessible to a wider audience.
This blog will go over the best ways to optimize an ADA-compliant website for SEO. Whether you are just starting to build your website or looking to make improvements, this guide will provide you with the insights you need to succeed.
What is ADA compliance?
ADA compliance refers to making websites and digital content accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as visual, hearing, mobility, or cognitive impairments. ADA compliance aims to ensure that everyone has equal access to information and functionality on the internet.
It has become a legal requirement in most parts of the world. Therefore, when businesses develop their websites, ADA compliance is a must for many reasons, which we will discuss briefly.
Why is ADA compliance important for SEO?
There are several reasons why ADA compliance is crucial for SEO.
One of the major reasons is that Google and other search engines have stated that they consider ADA compliance as a ranking factor, despite not being a direct one. This means that compliant websites may have an edge in search results over others that are not.
In addition, ADA compliance helps you also avoid costly lawsuits.
What are the advantages of ADA compliance to your business?
As a business, you may now be thinking if ADA compliance has any advantages. Well, there are many advantages to doing so.
Here are five key benefits:
Legal compliance
One of the main advantages of an ADA-compliant website is that it helps you avoid legal issues. The ADA is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including by websites and digital content.
As you make your website compliant, you are not violating the ADA and avoid any legal consequences that may occur otherwise.
Improved brand reputation
By making your website ADA-compliant, you can demonstrate your commitment to these values and improve your brand image. It shows that you are committed to inclusivity and accessibility, which can be attractive to customers and stakeholders.
Improved user experience
An ADA-compliant website ADA improves the user experience for individuals who are blind, deaf, or have limited mobility or cognitive impairments. When your website is accessible to these users, you ensure that they can fully engage with the site and take advantage of all that your business has to offer.
This will create a more inclusive digital space.
Increased traffic
Search engines like Google consider ADA compliance an indirect factor affecting user experience, and they use it for ranking. Therefore, websites that comply with the ADA may appear higher in search results than those not ADA-compliant. This is because Google wants to deliver the best user experience on their searches.
Therefore, by ensuring ADA compliance on your site, you may also improve your search engine ranking to reach a wider audience.
Potential cost savings
When your website complies with the ADA, it can lead to cost savings in the long run. If you are not compliant and receive a complaint or lawsuit, the costs of resolving the issue can be high.
By proactively making your website adhere to ADA frameworks, you can avoid these costs and potentially save money in the long run.
How to optimize an ADA-compliant website for SEO
So, how can you ensure that your website is ADA-compliant and optimized for SEO?
Here are a few key steps to follow:
Use alt text for images.
Alt text is a description of an image that appears when the image is not able to be displayed. This is paramount for individuals who are blind or have low vision, as they rely on screen readers to navigate websites.
By providing alt text for your images, you can help ensure that your content is accessible to these users.
Make your website mobile-friendly.
With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets to access the internet, it’s crucial to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. This includes ensuring that your website is responsive, meaning that it adjusts to the size of the device it is being viewed on.
Use headings and subheadings.
Use descriptive headings and subheadings to help search engines understand the content on your website. Headings and subheadings help to break up your content and make it easier to read. They also make it easier for screen readers to navigate your website.
Use descriptive link text.
Link text is the text that is used to link to another webpage. It’s vital to use descriptive link text so that users and screen readers understand where the link will take them.
Avoid using “click here” as link text, as it does not give any context about the link’s destination.
Add video and transcription tags.
Incorporating video content on your website can be a great way to engage users and provide additional information. One way to do this is by adding video and transcription tags to your website. Video tags allow you to provide a transcript of the audio in your video, making it accessible to users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
You can also include closed captions or subtitles for users who cannot listen to the audio.
Use sitemaps, table of contents, etc.
On-site sitemaps, tables of contents, and breadcrumbs are all helpful tools for making your website more accessible and easier to navigate.
Sitemaps allow users to easily see the structure of your website and find the content they are looking for. Table of contents and breadcrumbs can help users understand the hierarchy of your website and where they are within your site.
By including these elements on your website, you can help make it easier for users with disabilities to navigate and find the information they need.
Conclusion
By following these practices, you can ensure that your website is ADA-compliant and optimized for SEO. This will help you not only avoid legal troubles but also improve your search engine ranking and reach a wider audience.
However, optimizing your website ADA-compliant for search engines can be challenging. You need an established SEO agency to help you with the same. This is where Eco York can make all the difference to your business.
As one of the most experienced agencies offering SEO consulting Services, Eco York can make ADA compliance a part of your SEO strategy.
Talk to us to learn more about our SEO services. Contact us now.
