Yoast SEO - Shopify plugin
Yoast SEO expanded into the Shopify space with the Yoast SEO for Shopify plugin. Their first new venture in over 12 years.
I was placed on this product to change the development focus from feature to user experience lead. This meant learning user needs and creating a framework for integrating user testing in the product design process, something that had not been done before I joined.
With the final results of improving the app rating from 2.2 to 4.2 in 6 months
Client: Yoast SEO
Role: Lead UX Designer
Focus: UX design, UI design, UX research, stakeholder management, Wireframing, Hi-Fi creation, prototyping
Website: Yoast SEO – SEO for stores
The #1 wordpress SEO plugin makes the leap to Shopify
Yoast SEO made its name as the 1# SEO plugin for wordpress with more than 13 million users.
They looked to make the move to Shopify to capture new customers during its rapid growth.
Their initial release was a port of the WordPress plugin to Shopify. This was done without performing user research on their new audience. The initial reception was poor.
Understanding users needs, pains and goals.
To better understand and map the users was necessary to help create the foundation for turning the launch around.
Conducting user interviews, and surveys, and using quantitive analytics highlighted pain points and drop-offs in the onboarding experience.
Onboarding
Providing a user with a positive initial experience is key to a high retention rate. Based on the interviews and drop-off points it was important to design a onboarding the matches the different user profiles and their unique needs.
The new onboarding experience increased daily concurrent users by 48%.
Converting free users
Designing and mapping out the optimal flow and touch points for converting free users into monthly subscribers.
Without disturbing workflows and advertising to them at the peak positive moments on their journey.
Final Results
The prioritisation of UX in the Yoast shopify plugin increased its reviews from a 2.2 to 4.4 in 6 months and added over 4000 new customers thanks to new conversion tactics and customer service.
The product itself did not change but the onboarding did allow users to find what they need fast and get results faster.
