Improving Search Results with Optimizely: A Comprehensive Guide to SXO Implementation

SXO combines three critical areas: getting found in search results (SEO), providing a great user experience (UX), and turning visitors into customers (CRO). Instead of treating these separately, you work on all three together. Here's how to do it with Optimizely.

What SXO Actually Means for Your Business

Search Experience Optimization goes beyond traditional SEO strategies. While SEO focuses on search engine rankings, SXO cares about what happens after someone clicks your link in search results.

Think about it this way: you can have the #1 ranking for your target keyword, but if visitors bounce immediately because your site is slow or confusing, you've wasted that valuable organic traffic. SXO ensures the entire user journey—from search result to conversion—works smoothly.

The three core components of SXO:

• SEO: Getting your pages to show up in search results
• UX: Making your site easy and pleasant to use
• CRO: Encouraging visitors to take action

This approach matters because search engines now consider user behavior signals like bounce rate and time on page when ranking sites. Google wants to send users to pages that satisfy their search intent, not just pages that match keywords.

How Optimizely Supports SXO Implementation

Optimizely CMS (currently version 12) includes several powerful features that help with SXO implementation:

Search & Navigation: Built-in search functionality with analytics to see what users search for and where they get stuck in the conversion process.

Personalization: Show different content to different visitors based on their behavior, location, or other demographic factors.

A/B Testing: Test different versions of pages, forms, and calls-to-action to see what converts better for your specific audience.

Performance Tools: Caching and CDN integration to keep your site loading fast for better user experience.

Analytics Integration: Connect with tools like Google Analytics to track detailed user behavior patterns.

Let's look at how to use these features effectively for maximum SXO impact.

Setting Up Your SEO Foundation for Long-term Success

Before diving into advanced SXO features, make sure your basic SEO is solid. Optimizely makes this easier with built-in SEO fields that content creators can easily manage.

Add meta tags to your page types:

[Display(Name = "Meta Title")]
[StringLength(60, ErrorMessage = "Title should be under 60 characters")]
public virtual string MetaTitle { get; set; }

[Display(Name = "Meta Description")]
[StringLength(160, ErrorMessage = "Description should be under 160 characters")]
public virtual string MetaDescription { get; set; }

This creates editable fields in the Optimizely editor interface. Content creators can set unique titles and descriptions for each page without touching code.

Create templates that output these tags:

Other SEO basics to handle for better search visibility:

• Clean URLs that describe the page content
• Proper heading structure (H1, H2, H3)
• Alt text for images
• Fast loading times
• Mobile-responsive design

Optimizely handles URL structure automatically, but you can customize it. The built-in image optimization helps with performance.

Building Better On-Site Search Experience

Most websites have terrible search functionality that drives users away. Users type in a query and get irrelevant results, so they leave frustrated. Optimizely's Search & Navigation feature fixes this common problem.

Set up search indexing for better results:

public class ArticlePage : PageData
{
    [Searchable]
    public virtual string Heading { get; set; }
    
    [Searchable]
    public virtual XhtmlString MainContent { get; set; }
    
    [Searchable]
    public virtual string Summary { get; set; }
}

The [Searchable] attribute tells Optimizely to include these fields in search results.

Create a search results page that delivers relevant content:

public ActionResult Search(string q)
{
    var results = SearchClient.Instance.Search()
        .For(q)
        .Filter(x => x.Visible.Match(true))
        .Take(20)
        .GetResult();
    
    var model = new SearchResultsViewModel
    {
        Query = q,
        Results = results
    };
    
    return View(model);
}

This searches across all content types and returns only published pages.

Track search analytics for continuous improvement: Optimizely automatically tracks search queries, results clicked, and failed searches (queries with no results). Use this data to:

• Add content for popular searches that return no results
• Improve existing content that shows up in search but doesn't get clicked
• Create landing pages for common search queries

Personalize search results for different user segments: You can show different results to different user groups. For example, show product pages to existing customers and information pages to new visitors.

First, create visitor groups based on behavior:

public class ReturningVisitorCriteria : CriterionBase
{
    public override bool IsMatch(IPrincipal principal, HttpContextBase httpContext)
    {
        var cookie = httpContext.Request.Cookies["returning_visitor"];
        return cookie != null && cookie.Value == "true";
    }
}

Then use the Personalize feature in the Optimizely editor to show different search results or content blocks to each group.

Improving User Experience for Better Conversions

Fast, accessible websites rank better in search engines and convert more visitors into customers. Optimizely includes several features to help improve user experience.

Performance optimization strategies:

• Enable output caching for static content
• Use the built-in CDN for images and assets
• Minify CSS and JavaScript files
• Compress images automatically

Mobile optimization best practices:

• Use responsive design in your templates
• Test on actual mobile devices
• Consider mobile-specific navigation patterns
• Ensure touch targets are large enough

Accessibility improvements:

• Use semantic HTML elements
• Provide alt text for images
• Test with screen readers
• Ensure good color contrast

Clear navigation structure:

• Use descriptive menu labels
• Include breadcrumbs
• Add a search box
• Group related content logically

Testing and Converting Visitors with Data-Driven Decisions

Getting traffic is only half the battle in digital marketing. You need to convert visitors into customers or leads. Optimizely's experimentation tools help you find what works for your specific audience.

A/B test your calls-to-action:

Create two versions of a page with different button text, colors, or placement. Optimizely will split traffic between them and tell you which performs better statistically.

Test form layouts for higher completion rates:

Long forms scare people away from completing conversions. Test shorter versions, different field orders, or multi-step forms to see what gets more completions.

Personalize content for different visitor segments:

Show different offers to different visitor segments. New visitors might see a welcome message with basic information, while returning visitors see advanced features or special deals.

Example personalization setup process:

• Create visitor groups (new vs. returning visitors)
• Create content blocks for each group
• Use the Personalize feature to show different blocks to each group
• Track conversion rates for each variation

Measuring Your SXO Success with Key Metrics

SXO only works if you measure performance and improve continuously. Track these key metrics to ensure your implementation is successful:

Search performance metrics:

• Search success rate (queries that lead to clicks)
• Average time from search to conversion
• Most popular search terms
• Searches with no results

User experience metrics:

• Page load time
• Bounce rate
• Time on page
• Pages per session

Conversion optimization metrics:

• Conversion rate by traffic source
• Revenue per visitor
• Lead quality from organic search
• Cost per acquisition

Set up tracking in Optimizely:

// Track custom events
public void TrackSearchEvent(string query, int resultCount)
{
    var trackingService = ServiceLocator.Current.GetInstance();
    trackingService.Track(new SearchEvent
    {
        Query = query,
        ResultCount = resultCount,
        Timestamp = DateTime.Now
    });
}

Use this data to identify problems and opportunities. If lots of people search for something but don't convert, maybe the landing page needs work. If mobile users have high bounce rates, focus on mobile performance optimization.

Common SXO Problems and Proven Fixes

Slow search results: Enable search result caching and consider adding search filters to help users narrow results quickly.

Irrelevant search results: Use synonyms in your content, improve your tagging strategy, and consider manual boosting for important pages.

High bounce rates from search traffic: Make sure your meta descriptions accurately describe the page content. Misleading descriptions bring the wrong visitors.

Low conversion rates: Test different calls-to-action, simplify forms, and make sure your value proposition is clear and compelling.

Poor mobile search experience: Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool and fix issues with touch targets, text size, and load times.

Getting Started with Your SXO Implementation

Here's your step-by-step action plan for implementing SXO with Optimizely:

• Audit your current setup: Check your site's technical SEO, search functionality, and conversion rates.
• Set up tracking: Make sure you can measure the metrics that matter for your business.
• Fix the basics: Ensure fast loading, mobile-friendly design, and proper meta tags.
• Improve search: Set up Optimizely Search & Navigation and start tracking what users search for.
• Start testing: Pick one element to A/B test, like your main call-to-action button.
• Add personalization: Create simple visitor groups and show different content to each.
• Measure and improve: Review your metrics monthly and make improvements based on the data.

SXO isn't a one-time project—it's an ongoing process of optimization and improvement. But with Optimizely's powerful tools and this systematic approach, you can create search experiences that both users and search engines love.

The key is starting simple and building up your SXO implementation gradually. Pick one area to improve, measure the results carefully, then move to the next optimization opportunity. Your users will notice the difference in their search experience, and your conversion rates will show the positive impact.