A whopping 1.8 billion websites exist on the internet these days.
However, you can bet your bottom dollar that the number of high-quality sites is much, much smaller! The vast majority are outdated, slow, cumbersome to navigate, and hold minimal aesthetic appeal. In other words, their user experience (UX) is lacking in every regard.
That’s bad news for the webmasters in question. After all, of the plethora of metrics that determine a website's quality (not to mention its success in search results), its UX is one of the most important.
To improve user experience is to make life easier for anybody who stumbles upon the site. It’s about helping them achieve their goals on the site and to enjoy the process as well. Fail, and Google registers their dissatisfaction, shoving your site further down the rankings as a result.
Are you trying to avoid that unfortunate fate in 2021? Let us help. Keep reading to learn 8 top tips for improving your website's user experience on your website.
A great starting point is always to reflect on your audience. Who is it that’ll be visiting your webpages in search of the information they contain? Think (or use Google Analytics to find out) about their demographic information, interests, and personalities, and so on.
This should make it far easier to design a website that they’ll enjoy using. For example, a B2B business website will need a professional appearance that establishes authority and credibility. Therefore, an online business must have an optimized ecommerce website design to provide easy access to information and seamless navigation for online shoppers. A travel blogger with a younger audience, though, might want image-heavy pages and more casual copy to entertain their users.
Try to make your webpages as simple as possible. For example, you should avoid all unnecessary elements, make your copy scannable, and the entire site straightforward to navigate. Website simplicity makes a difference in more ways than one.
First off, like a minimalist’s living room, it creates an uncluttered appearance that’s more attractive to the eye! Second, it makes it easier for users to find the information they need. And last, with fewer things to load, it should speed up your website too (more on this later).
On a similar note, try to leverage what’s called ‘whitespace’ on your webpages. Think of it like floor-space in your home. The more stuff you cram into each room, the less of the floor you can see, right?
It feels crowded and cramped and detracts from the overall aesthetic.
In the same way, the more elements you have on your webpages, the less whitespace there is between them. In your bid to improve user experience, try increasing the amount that’s in evidence. It’ll make your site look more professional, polished, and pleasant in general.
Your website’s up against the clock. After all, people have awful attention spans these days and live busy lives. They don’t have the time or inclination to wait around for anything.
The result? They want your webpages to load ASAP (and instantaneously if possible). If they’re too slow (think longer than 3 measly seconds or so!), then they’ll lose interest and click away to a competitor’s site.
Furthermore, Google will ping you in SERPs. They understand that time is of the essence for its users and now give priority to fast-loading sites. By the same token, slower sites suffer.
As a user, there’s nothing more frustrating than clicking on a link only to see a ‘404 Not Found’ error appear. Annoyed, you inevitably click back, click away, and look elsewhere for answers. Make it your mission to avoid that eventuality on your website!
Remember, it’s your job to make your users’ lives as easy as possible. Use a broken link checker to find any suspect links and change them.
There’s no replacement for amazing content when it comes to the UX. Sure, page load times and intuitive layouts make a difference. But great content (be it written, audio, or visual) speaks for itself and makes amends for any previous minor issues.
Content really is king. It doesn’t just bring users to your site through content marketing either. Epic content keeps them there too; providing the answers, information, and/or entertainment they needed.
What do you do when you don’t know what gift to get someone for their birthday? You ask them what they want, right!? You could take the same tack when boosting your UX.
Indeed, making decisions on behalf of your audience carries a risk. You may make design changes that people don’t even want and only find out when your results started to dip.
Surveying your audience for feedback should prevent that from happening. You’ll find out what they like and dislike about the site. You can then make appropriate, evidence-based changes to improve your website's user experience.
Does everything we’ve talked about so far sound too much like hard work? You could think about outsourcing this task to an SEO expert instead. They’ll have all the skills required, saving you the effort of learning how to improve the user experience alone.
First, they’ll audit your current website and identify any issues/room for improvement. They’ll then enter the back-end and apply their expertise to rectify the problem(s). You can sit back, relax, and get on with other things while they go to all the trouble!
Have you been wondering how to improve your website's user experience?
Well, good! It’s a crucial step toward enhancing its overall quality and effectiveness online. Get it right and the website user experience will impact both your SEO and the way your audience feels about the business.
With any luck, the tips in this post will help you succeed. Keep them in mind and your web design and functionality should be pleasing your users in no time! Would you like to read more articles like this one?
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