Recently, several ‘UX Playbooks’ were leaked. They sit on ‘services.google.com’ domain and they’re not linked to from anywhere else on Google.
These playbooks are guaranteed to offer webmasters an edge over competitors, with countless data-driven tips and recommendations on how to improve on-site user experience and increase conversions.
In total, six playbooks were leaked at first, detailing the best practices for finance, lead gen, retail, real estate, travel & news websites . Later, another one was leaked too, for auto sales .
Be warned though – they’re pretty lengthy documents.
Google calls the documents a “Collection of best practices to delight your users”. The playbooks offer insights into what to do to please Google.
Choose your industry and see what Google likes. It should give you a good base from which you can start improving.
Google UX Playbook for Retail & E-Commerce (PDF, 108 pages)
https://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_retail_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for Lead Gen (PDF, 44 pages)
https://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_leadgen_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for Travel (PDF, 80 pages)
http://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_travel_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for Finance (PDF, 106 pages)
http://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_finance_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for Real Estate (PDF, 60 pages)
https://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_realestate_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for News and Content Sites (PDF, 62 pages)
http://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_news_ux_playbook.pdf
Google UX Playbook for Auto (PDF, 39 pages)
http://services.google.com/fh/files/events/pdf_auto_ux_playbook.pdf
PS. Most of the suggestions are generally applicable, not just for that particular industry. If you can’t find your specific industry here, choose the closest one and you should still learn a lot about best practices and about how to “delight your users”.