In the digital world, UX (or User Experience) is the experience a user has when interacting with your website. A good user experience could be a brand differentiator and the reason why a customer chooses you over your competitor.
Just because your website looks great to you does not mean that it has the best UX. When a user can’t locate a page they need in the navigation or even something as small as a missing heading in your content, it can result in a huge loss from a potential customer. If your site does not present a good experience for your visitors, you’re likely to miss out on returning users, visitor engagement, and ultimately conversions! Designing a site for your target user really is a big deal, and not something that should be an afterthought.
What Will Improve My Website’s UX?
There is a long list of practices, processes and user research that should be considered when designing for user experience. To give you a quick idea, below are just a few examples of what should be considered when creating your website for your target users. It is imperative that you place your audience at the forefront of your mind when making any website design decisions to create the experience that is going to work best for them, (and also get you the results you need).
Easy to Use
Really take into consideration where the most intuitive spots to place content and different elements would be. Using clear, concise and readable content will help your user easily find and understand the information you’re trying to convey. Not only is it content, but the way that your pages are structured and when you present your information all contribute to ease of use. Don’t forget about an intuitive navigation to help them find exactly what they need!
Enjoyable to Use
Your website needs to look good & function well to create an enjoyable experience. Again, “looking good” by itself isn’t going to make it a great experience, but it’s definitely an important piece of the puzzle. Your imagery and page layout should be both attractive, useful, and NOT out of date. Make sure there aren’t any technical issues causing frustration, prompting users to just leave your site altogether.
Answers to User Questions
Focus on solving the most important user problems. When a user comes to your site, they’ve got some questions that they need answered. “How do I get in contact with this business?”, “How much will this cost me?”, “What are the benefits of this service?”. Make sure you’re providing the necessary answers to their questions. Your site should help fulfill their needs.
Usable for Diverse Abilities & Backgrounds
Don’t forget that not all of your users will have the same abilities or life experiences as you do. Something that may be an obvious choice for you, could actually be very unclear to those that you’re speaking to. Your content should be accessible for all users.
Did You Know?
User experience is actually an important ranking factor for Google & can affect your SEO rankings. When you take steps to improve your UX, you’re also taking steps to improve your performance with Google. Sounds like a win-win to me!
I’m Going to Need Some Help With This.
No Worries! We Have User Experience Experts on Our Team.
If you’re noticing your site may not be up to par when it comes to providing the right experience for your users, Vivid Image is here to help. Our web design & development team is well versed in creating websites with these practices in mind.
