Have you ever been on a website that you’ve wanted to purchase something but the user experience was so bad you left the site and went somewhere else? Our guess is that if you’ve ever used the internet then this has most definitely happened to you. Now more than ever before it’s important to have a great user experience for your potential and returning clients and customers. Why? It’s simple really, they can most likely get whatever you are offering somewhere else. If the first experience they have with you is through a website that is lacking then they will leave you and search elsewhere for what they need.
Mobile-friendly
Over 50% of online searches are done through a mobile device. This number will likely continue to rise as smartphones get bigger and become more capable. There are well over three billion smartphones in use in 2020! This means that your website needs to look legit and function flawlessly on mobile devices. How many times have you visited a website on your mobile device and you have to scroll in and out to read the text? Or scroll left and right to find the menu or read text that essentially goes off the page. Have you ever been to a site where the menu just covers up whatever you are looking at? We have, just yesterday in fact. It can make for an unpleasant and frustrating experience for your users and will make them shy away from using your website in the future.
Defining user experience for your website
First, you need to consider what it is you are offering your users. Is it a service, a product, inspiration, or DIY material? Do you want your users to call you, contact you via a form, reach out through social media, use a chat function? Are you looking for customers to purchase a product right away, sign up for a newsletter, or simply browse your website to find information?
Answering the above-listed questions will help you define how you want users to experience your website. If you simply want them to look through your products and make a purchase then you want to wow them when they first get to your website. With a beautiful design and functional menus. On the other hand, if you want them to dig a little deeper and find out what you and your company are really about then you will want to provide awesome content and the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter so they can hear from you more often.
If a user is looking for information, they shouldn’t have to click through a bunch of different menus to find what they are looking for. You want to create an awesome space for your users to find what they are looking for, keep coming back for more, and share it with their friends.
Additionally, you will want your website to be responsive to your users. Nobody, and we mean NOBODY, likes watching that little wheel spin. Humans have an attention span of fewer than 8 seconds, so that’s the maximum time your website should take to load a page. We’ve most definitely clicked off a website before when it isn’t going fast enough for us.
What your website needs for an amazing user experience
Here are some key functions that your website should offer to give your users a great experience.
- Mobile-friendly – your website should be optimized for desktop and smartphones
- Speed – your website should load your content quickly without errors or server delays
- Consistent – your website should have a cohesive design across all pages
- Simple – your website shouldn’t be overloaded with every picture you’ve ever taken or full of ads. Have you ever looked up a recipe and needed to close three ads before you can see the recipe? You know you have, and you know it’s annoying!
- Attractive – good design and good photography go a long way! Make sure you are offering your users something beautiful and worthy of their time!
If you want to learn more about creating a beautifully designed and user-friendly website then check out what it means to become an emerse design client. Feel free to request a quote today! We look forward to helping your business grow!