I see advanced architecture as much more than a technical framework now. It shapes whether my content can be found, understood, and surfaced by search engines and AI systems.
That is why I am paying close attention to the next SMX Now on July 15, featuring Shari Thurow, co-founder, information scientist, and search director at the Information Architecture Gateway. She will explain how advanced architecture really works and where many AI, SEO, and site development workflows tend to fall short.
In this session, I will explore a five-phase framework Thurow has tested through decades of client work with organizations including Microsoft, Google Cloud, Abbott Laboratories, CVS Pharmacy, WebMD, Sony Music, the Library of Congress, Best Buy, and Merriam-Webster. I will learn how architecture decisions influence labeling systems, wayfinding networks, taxonomy, wireframes, and AI access to valuable content.
I also expect the session to challenge some long-standing assumptions, including the three-click rule, the idea that taxonomy is only a hierarchy, and the belief that AI can create effective wireframes without a deeper architectural model behind them.
Old search marketing tools give way to a faster, connected future, with data streams, AI icons, and a glowing search hub symbolizing SEO innovation and community growth.
By the end, I will have a practical framework for building sites that communicate more clearly with users, search engines, and human-centered AI systems.
Every so often, I see a product launch turn into a marketing lesson bigger than the product itself. Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty did that with a new fragrance, but it was not only the scent that drew attention. The bottle became the story. Its accessible, easy-to-use packaging sparked conversation, earned praise from accessibility advocates, and reminded me how powerful inclusive design can be when it is built into the product from the start.
For me, the lesson is clear: accessibility is not a side note. It can become the campaign. One thoughtful design choice created cultural impact that would be hard to buy with media spend alone. It also showed why accessibility can build loyalty, strengthen brand reputation, support compliance, and drive measurable growth.
Accessibility as a campaign strategy
I do not see Rare Beauty’s accessibility work as a one-off moment. From packaging to pricing to its ongoing mental health advocacy, the brand has consistently made inclusivity part of its identity. That matters because consumers can usually tell when a brand is chasing attention versus when it is acting from a real strategy. They reward brands that lead with values and follow through.
Rare Beauty is not alone. I see leading brands across industries using accessibility as a differentiator, not a footnote. Apple often frames accessibility features as part of product innovation. Microsoft has brought inclusive design into mainstream campaigns, including adaptive gaming products that positioned accessibility as a source of creativity and connection. In fashion and retail, brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Unilever have put adaptive design into product launches and brand identity instead of treating it as a niche offering.
Studies from Edelman and McKinsey show why this shift matters. According to those studies, 73% of Gen Z choose to buy from brands they believe in, and 70% say they try to purchase products from companies they consider ethical. I do not see those as fringe preferences. I see them as mainstream expectations that should change how marketers build trust and growth.
The $18 trillion market marketers overlook
More than 1.3 billion people globally live with a disability. Together with their friends and family, they control more than $18 trillion in spending power, according to the Return on Disability Group. I believe marketers should view this as more than a compliance issue. It is a growth opportunity, a reputation opportunity, and a trust-building opportunity with one of the world’s largest and most passionate consumer groups.
That passion often turns into advocacy. In discussions with AudioEye’s A11iance Team, a group of individuals with disabilities who regularly share feedback on real-world accessibility experiences, one member said, “If I find a website that works and works very well for me, I will always recommend it to friends and family because I want people to have the same experience that I have.”
Another A11iance Team member, Maxwell Ivey, put it this way: “The cheapest form of advertising is word of mouth, and people with disabilities can have some of the loudest voices when we find people willing to make the effort. Because it’s that sincere effort over time that really counts with us.”
When accessibility becomes part of the customer experience, I see it create something media budgets cannot easily buy: trust and loyalty that scale through advocacy. But the reverse is also true. In a survey of assistive technology users, 54% said they do not feel eCommerce companies care about earning their business.
That should get every marketer’s attention. Too many brands are still fighting for the same crowded audience segments while overlooking a major opportunity in plain sight. When they do, they leave loyalty, advocacy, and revenue on the table.
Here is where I see many brands stumble: accessibility often stops at the shelf. Marketers invest heavily in packaging, store displays, and product design, while digital experiences lag behind. Yet those digital experiences are often the first and most important touchpoints customers have with a brand.
As accessibility-led design earns more attention, loyalty, and earned media, the gap between physical product innovation and digital experience becomes harder to ignore.
AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index found an average of 297 accessibility issues per web page detectable by automation alone. Each issue can create friction in the customer journey, cost a conversion, or introduce compliance risk under frameworks such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
I would not launch a campaign without a brand review or a legal check. In the same way, I do not think any digital touchpoint should go live without an accessibility review.
Four moves marketing leaders can make
Too often, I see accessibility treated as a risk to manage instead of an advantage to use. The marketers who gain ground will be the ones who change that mindset. I would start with four practical moves.
1. Make accessibility your campaign hook
I would not hide accessibility in the fine print. I would lead with it. Brands like Rare Beauty have shown that inclusive design is the story. Build campaigns where accessibility is not an afterthought, but the differentiator that earns attention and loyalty.
2. Bake it into your brand system
Accessibility should not sit off to the side. I would make Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) alignment part of the brand system, right alongside typography, logos, and tone of voice. When accessibility is documented and expected, it becomes easier to apply across every campaign.
3. Use data as your proof point
Marketers are storytellers, but numbers strengthen the story. I would track accessibility improvements such as fewer user-reported barriers, higher accessibility scores, stronger alt text, better color contrast, and more usable forms. Then I would connect those metrics to business outcomes like conversion, reach, and sentiment to show how accessibility drives ROI, not just compliance.
4. Protect accessibility like brand safety
I would treat accessibility with the same seriousness as brand safety. Every update, seasonal campaign, and product drop should be monitored for accessibility. Trust and reputation are too valuable to leave exposed.
The competitive advantage
Rare Beauty’s fragrance launch proved something important to me: when a brand leads with accessibility, the story can write itself. Loyalty builds more authentically, and momentum feels more natural because the value is real.
The larger opportunity is that many brands still do not see it. They continue to treat accessibility as a compliance checkbox when it can be a growth strategy.
For marketers, that is the wake-up call. Accessibility builds loyalty. It strengthens brand reputation. It supports compliance. And it can drive measurable growth across marketing efforts.
Rare Beauty showed how accessibility can capture attention at the shelf. Now I see the next opportunity clearly: making sure that same accessibility carries through online. When every touchpoint welcomes everyone, every campaign has a better chance to deliver its full impact.
I’ve noticed that in today’s digital landscape, our search performance is heavily influenced by how people engage with and trust our content, even beyond the initial click. This concept of Human Experience Optimization (HXO) connects SEO with UX, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and brand signals.
I used to think of SEO as simply figuring out what algorithms liked best—focusing on keywords, links, and technical details. But now, things have changed.
Now, my visibility is more about earning trust and being useful. It’s not just about having the right signals or being easy to crawl; it’s about experience.
Search engines today pay attention to how people interact with brands over time, marking the rise of HXO. This involves enhancing how individuals experience, trust, and engage with my brand across search, content, product, and conversion channels.
Instead of replacing SEO, HXO broadens its perspective to match how search engines now evaluate performance. Experience, engagement, and credibility are becoming essential parts of visibility itself.
Let’s dive into why HXO is crucial now and its influence on the merger of SEO, UX, and conversion strategies.
Why HXO Matters Now
Contemporary search engines now reward outcomes over mere tactics. They align with Google’s focus on user satisfaction rather than isolated page signals.
In practice, we see signals relating to questions like: Do users engage or bounce? Do they come back? Do they recognize the brand later? Do they trust the information enough to act on it?
Today, visibility is influenced by overlapping forces like user behavior signals, brand signals, and content authenticity.
HXO arises in response to the saturation of AI-generated content and diminishing returns from traditional SEO tactics unsupported by a strong experience and brand coherence.
In a nutshell, ignoring human experience is no longer an option if we want to remain competitive.
The Convergence: SEO, UX, and CRO Are No Longer Separate
SEO, UX, and CRO used to operate as distinct disciplines. But that separation doesn’t work anymore.
In modern search experiences, traffic alone means little without engagement. Engagement without a path to action limits impact. Conversion struggles without trust.
HXO acts as a unifying layer: SEO determines arrival, UX ensures understanding, and CRO transforms understanding into action.
In this realm, optimization focuses on supporting attention and trust over time, not just securing a single click.
E-E-A-T is a Business System, Not Content Guidelines
A common misconception is that E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) can be “added” to content with elements like author bios and citations. These help, but E-E-A-T requires more—it’s about long-term brand credibility.
E-E-A-T involves real expertise, transparency, consistency, and accountability, evaluated holistically by search engines.
The consistent systems and patterns reinforce E-E-A-T beyond little tweaks on a page.
First-Hand Experience Signals Are the New Differentiator
Today’s search landscape is filled with well-structured content. First-hand experience, such as original research and insights from lived experiences, sets content apart from mere aggregation.
Creators and operators excel by providing insights that reflect direct involvement and real-world expertise.
This emphasizes the importance of the human element in content creation.
Helpful Content Is a Brand Problem, Not an SEO Problem
Content that fails to be helpful often reflects a lack of clarity in a brand’s positioning and how it serves its audience.
When I look at content that resonates well, it reflects actual understanding of the audience and consistent intent throughout brand interactions.
SEO aids in discoverability, but genuine helpfulness requires brand consistency and deeper alignment.
Closing these gaps involves understanding how audiences experience and engage with the brand beyond a single interaction.
How to Start Practicing Human Experience Optimization
Practicing HXO starts with understanding people and why they search, not just focusing on keywords. It involves transforming keyword strategies into audience strategies and auditing experience across all user touchpoints.
1. Shift to Audience Strategy
Keywords are informative, but we need deeper insights into motivations and contexts.
2. Audit the Complete Experience
Consider trust, clarity, and consistency across all channels and touchpoints, not just individual pages.
3. Align Teams Around Experience Outcomes
Bridging gaps between marketing, product, content, and design teams can achieve more cohesive user experiences.
4. Measure What Truly Matters
Beyond traditional metrics, focus on engagement quality, brand recall, and trust-driven conversions.
Optimize for Humans to Earn Algorithms
Ultimately, HXO is about consistently delivering valuable experiences. Reliable brands in search are grounded in real experiences and useful content, earning visibility through the lasting impressions left on users.
I’ve been observing how AI is transforming search, yet the timeless principles of SEO still seem to bring in the majority of traffic. It’s fascinating to look at data that show which strategies really work.
Generative AI is a huge trend right now. It’s featured in every conference and is all over my LinkedIn. Businesses, mine included, are rethinking organic search.
We’re all in a race to optimize for AI Overviews, work on vector embeddings, and reconfigure content models around LLMs. But what’s less talked about is the simple truth: AI isn’t yet the primary driver of web traffic for most of us.
While AI-driven search is gaining momentum, the LLM platforms collectively account for just a tiny fraction, about 2-3%, of the organic traffic that Google alone provides.
However, I’ve noticed that many teams, maybe even yours, are investing more energy in AI strategies instead of reinforcing essential SEO fundamentals that still deliver tangible results. Focusing too much on the future means we’re not making the most of today’s opportunities.
In my experience, looking closely at proven SEO tactics and real-world data can highlight how they still effectively move the needle today.
Quick SEO Wins Still Deliver Substantial Gains
It’s easy to overlook minor updates when we’re caught up with trends like vector embeddings and semantic SEO. Yet, these small changes can have a significant impact.
Take title tags, for instance. They’re among the simplest and most effective SEO tools. I’ve seen many websites fail to use them effectively, often neglecting to target the right keywords, include key variations, or use any keywords at all.
Just recently, a simple change of adding “& [keyword]” to a client’s homepage title tag resulted in a surge in keyword rankings, clicks, and impressions. No other changes were made, yet the results were significant.
Combining this with other strategies like on-page copy edits, internal linking, and backlinks can lead to ongoing growth. It might sound basic, but these tactics continue to work wonders. Don’t let advanced GEO strategies blind you to simple, impactful tactics.
The Importance of Content Freshness and Authority
The rise of AI might have pushed some tactics like the skyscraper technique into the shadows.
This approach involves crafting superior content for keywords and topics that are already ranking, aiming to outperform existing results. While the internet is flooded with similar content, focusing on keyword authority and freshness can be incredibly effective.
I’ve witnessed this success multiple times. Recently, a client’s article on a well-established topic quickly climbed to the second spot, generating new clicks and impressions almost instantly.
The success was due to the site’s strong authority and because much of the competing content was outdated. Although this strategy may not suit every situation, ignoring it could mean missing out on clear wins.
User Experience: A Key Conversion Lever
Although there’s buzz around AI-driven shopping experiences, the core principles of website optimization remain irreplaceable. Some argue that AI will soon take over interactions and conversions, but this is far from the present reality.
Many websites still rely on traditional search-driven traffic and website-based conversions. Whether visitors come from organic search, paid ads, AI referrals, or direct, what matters is a fast site, an excellent user experience, and a well-defined conversion funnel.
Optimizing these aspects can lead to remarkable performance gains, as I’ve seen through a simple CTR test with a client, which yielded impressive results.
Brands prioritizing user experience and conversion rate optimization will continue to outperform those who don’t. This competitive advantage will only grow if teams delay waiting for AI to perfect conversion mechanisms.
AI’s Role in Search and the Power of Existing Strategies
AI is indeed reshaping search by altering user behavior, influencing SERP appearances, and complicating attribution. Yet, the real risk lies in overreacting to AI at the expense of proven strategies.
For most sites, traditional organic search continues to be the primary traffic source. When well-executed, SEO fundamentals still deliver results. Quick wins and high-quality content are rewarded, and optimizing user experience remains critical.
These efforts support each other, improving organic visibility and complementing paid search and LLM visibility. Staying updated on AI developments is vital but not at the cost of current growth-driving strategies.
