The days of slow-loading webpages are long gone, and today’s website visitors expect more from companies than they did in the past. The user experience (UX) is a term that you’ll often hear website designers and marketers use to refer to how prospective customers feel and interact when they visit your company’s site.
When websites are set up correctly, the experience should feel seamless and intuitive and lead to more conversions. If a site provides a poor UX, then people tend to leave the page before they make a purchase. Considering that the average user forms an opinion of a website within 0.05 seconds, you don’t have long to make a positive impression.
Most issues with high bounce rates for websites are simple to correct when you work with professional website designers. Slow-loading pages are at the top of the list, but there are other issues to consider such as a web page being too difficult to navigate. Taking a look at how our team improves the UX of a company’s websites helps you see how a few changes can transform your business’s current marketing strategies.
Understanding Your Audience’s Needs
One of the first mistakes that some website designers make is not fully tapping into what the target audience needs. Doing proper user research and persona development makes it possible to fully understand what a person is looking for when they visit the website. Interviews, surveys and focus groups are all effective user research strategies that provide quick insight into what the target audience needs.
As the data flows in from the marketing research, certain buyer personas may begin to emerge. For instance, a restaurant might have buyers that have similar family sizes, ages and other demographic traits that you can use to get a better idea of what they do when they visit your website. Knowing that a family with children might be perusing restaurant listings online while at sports practice gives you the knowledge that you’ll need to focus on the mobile-friendliness of a site’s design.
Website developers may also use current analytics data to learn more about how the target audience interacts with a site as it stands. Identifying which web pages have the shortest view times or that people quickly exit out of a form provides insight into where the website’s design may cause bottlenecks in the marketing funnel. Using this information, they can then begin to put together a plan to improve the website’s UX.
Exploring the Key Principles of Good UX Design
Websites with good UX design tend to have several essential components in common. While you might feel tempted to load each page with eye-catching imagery and other elements, the truth is that simplicity is key to proper UX design. Streamlined pages are easier for users to navigate, and keeping the website as clutter-free as possible increases page loading times.
Fast load times and mobile responsiveness are two elements that users tend to notice within less than a second of accessing a website. Giving users the information they need quickly ensures that they won’t grow bored of waiting for the answers they are looking for to make a buying decision.
The website should have a consistent design that flows from one page to the next, and your company’s brand should be reflected in every word, image and sound. Making sure that your brand’s mission statement and story is carried through each web page means that users will feel an instant connection with your company as they do research and shop.
Common UX Mistakes to Avoid
When our team performs website assessments, we often find similar areas to improve. Overcomplicated designs often come from good intentions. Companies tend to want to provide as much information as possible to prospective customers, but there can be too much of a good thing. A complicated design can include elements that slow down page loads. Users also tend to get confused when they see multiple videos or navigational buttons. Streamlining page content to only one topic and minimizing imagery can help users focus on the elements your company prefers.
Mobile optimization is a huge topic in the marketing industry today. If your company’s website only loads well on traditional computers, then you could be locking many users out of the ability to learn about your business’s products and services. Mobile-friendly websites allow users to find information anywhere they travel to during the day, which can help to increase conversions.
Poorly designed forms and CTA buttons are another potential hangup for improving conversation rates. If a customer can’t easily input their information, then they might choose not to sign up for a consultation or follow-up emails. Faulty CTA buttons could also cause you to lose out on a sale right when the customer is ready to take action.
Using Tools and Techniques for UX Improvements
Professional web designers don’t just throw design elements onto a website without knowing what works. Instead, they use A/B testing and heatmaps to strategically design websites using proven tactics. A/B testing reveals which strategy or component will work best compared to the others. Heatmaps provide a visual clue into the parts of a website that users interact with the most. Using this information allows our team to tailor UX to fit the target audience’s behaviors and preferences.
Evaluating Case Studies of Successful UX Improvements
Taking a look at how other companies improved UX makes it possible to learn more about what works. Docly is one company that took six months to focus on UX improvement. The company conducted research that included asking the target audience what they needed most from payment plan options to being able to research a prospective medical provider. Using this information, they created a streamlined and mobile-friendly website and app design that increased participation rates for the wellness company.
Noticing that your company’s website has a high bounce rate or a lack of progress with generating conversions is a sign that it’s time to make a change. Contact our team for a UX audit or consultation that gives you the answers you need to transform the UX on your company’s web pages.
