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The Importance of UX in Website Design
08 Nov 2022
5 minutes read
Creating a website is no small feat. It requires careful planning, creative thinking, and most importantly, a clear understanding of your target audience. Once you have all those elements in place, you can start to think about the user experience (UX) aspect of your website.
Let’s take a closer look at why UX is so important and how you can improve the UX of your website.
What is UX?
User experience (UX) refers to how easy it is for users to navigate and find the information they’re looking for on your website. A good UX makes it easy for users to do what they want, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or reading an article. In short, a good UX will likely result in more conversions.
Creating a good UX starts with understanding your target audience and what they want to achieve on your website. Once you know this, you can think about how to design your website in a way that makes it easy for users to accomplish their goals. This includes everything from the overall layout of your site to the individual design elements on each page.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the UX of your website can have a big impact on search engine optimization (SEO). That’s because Google uses user engagement metrics—such as time on site and bounce rate—to determine where websites should rank in search results. So, if you want your website to rank high in search results, you need to focus on creating a good UX.
Improving your website’s UX
There are many factors that contribute to the overall UX of a website. Here are a few tips for improving the UX of your site.
1. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly
Mobile-friendly website design has become increasingly important in recent years as the number of mobile internet users grows exponentially. A mobile-friendly site is one that can be easily viewed and navigated on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet. UX is a critical factor in mobile-friendliness.
A good UX design ensures mobile users have a positive experience when visiting a website, and this can help increase conversion rates and brand loyalty. In addition, a mobile-friendly site is more likely to rank higher in search engine results, making it more visible to potential customers.
As the importance of mobile devices continues to grow, so does the importance of UX in website design. By ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, you can stay ahead of the competition and make sure your customers have a positive experience.
And how to know if your website is mobile friendly? User testing is the best way to ensure that users in your target audience are having an easy time on your site.
2. Use clear and concise copy
A website’s design is important, but the user experience (UX) is often what determines whether a visitor becomes a customer.
UX encompasses the ease of use of your website, how enjoyable the experience is, and how likely users are to remember your site and return. One of the most important aspects of great UX is clear and concise copy. Use short, simple sentences and write in active voice as much as possible to get your point across.
Be sure to proofread your text for grammar and spelling errors. Use headings and subheadings to break up long blocks of text, and use bullet points sparingly.
Most importantly, put yourself in the shoes of your users and think about what would make their experience of your site better. By following these tips, you can create a website that not only looks great but is also user-friendly and engaging.
3. Use visuals
People are visual creatures, and thus visuals play a big role in the overall UX of your site. In addition to using high-quality images throughout your site, you might also consider using infographics or videos.
Using images, videos and infographics can help explain complex concepts to your users. It can also help them navigate the site, particularly if those visual tools provide step-by-step instructions. In addition, visuals can also help to make a website more visually appealing, which can further encourage users to stick around.
Ultimately, by paying attention to both form and function, it’s possible to create a website that looks good and is easy to use—elements that are essential for any business wanting to thrive in the digital world.
An important note on visuals—not only does a website need to be visually appealing, but it also needs to provide a great user experience (UX). After all, no matter how pretty a website is, if it’s difficult to use, prospective customers may simply give up and go elsewhere. So if you are using images, videos and infographics, use them sparingly, and ensure there is white space around them so that the user’s eyes can rest. (See more on ‘Have a minimalist mindset’ below.)
4. Take care with ‘call to action’ button placement
If you’re not happy with your website’s conversion rates, one of the first places you should look is your call to action (CTA) button. The placement of your CTA button can have a big impact on how effective your site is, so it’s important to put some thought into where you position it.
There are a few factors to consider when deciding on the placement of your CTA button. First, think about what users will be doing when they see the button. If they’re just scanning the page, you’ll want to make sure the button is prominently featured so that it catches their eye. On the other hand, if users are reading through an article or a long piece of content, you might want to place the button further down the page, so they don’t feel like they’re being interrupted.
Another factor to consider is the layout of your page. If you have a lot of content or visual elements, you’ll want to make sure the CTA button stands out and is easy to find. You might even want to consider using a contrasting colour or adding an arrow pointing towards the button.
Ultimately, there’s no perfect position for a CTA button. It always varies depending on an individual website and goals. However, by taking some time to think about the best placement for your CTA button, and making adjustments if you need to, you can improve your website’s UX and start seeing better conversion rates in no time!
5. Improve the website speed
Improving your website’s speed should always be a top priority. Not only does it improve the user experience (UX), it also has a direct impact on conversion rates. Studies have shown that even a slight delay in loading time can cause a significant drop in conversions. This is because users are more likely to abandon a slow-loading website in favour of a faster one.
In addition, slow loading times can negatively impact search engine rankings.
Therefore, it’s essential to improve the speed of your website. There are a number of ways to do this, including optimising images, minifying CSS and JavaScript files, and using a content delivery network (CDN). By taking these steps, you can help ensure your website loads quickly and efficiently, provide a better experience for users and improve your chances of converting them into customers.
Note, though actual website speed matters, perceived speed can be equally important. If you effectively give the user feedback while they wait, letting them know you have registered their action and that they are progressing, then they may not be so put off by a slight delay on your website. (See more on ‘Give the user feedback/validation on their actions’ below.)
6. Website readability: make it bigger
One of the easiest ways to improve your website’s UX and improve your website’s conversion rates is to make sure your content is easy to read. Using larger text is a simple change that can make a big difference in your website’s bottom line. Large, easy-to-read text helps users find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily. It also helps to reduce the chances of user error, which can lead to lost sales.
7. Reduce friction on your website
A major part of UX is reducing friction. Friction is anything that makes it harder for users to accomplish their goals on your site.
Friction can be caused by a variety of factors, including slow loading times, confusing navigation, and irrelevant or intrusive ads.
By reducing friction, you make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for and take the actions you want them to take. As a result, they’re more likely to convert into customers or clients.
So keep an eye out for anything that slows your users down, or gets in the way. User testing is a great way to spot this.
8. Use A/B testing
Have you ever wondered why your website’s conversion rate isn’t as high as you want it to be? And how do you know what factors are impacting your website’s UX?
A/B testing helps take out the guesswork. A/B testing is a method of comparing two different versions of a web page to see which performs better. By running a series of A/B tests, you can identify which elements of your web page are most important to users. In addition, A/B testing can help you pinpoint what might be causing visitors to leave your site without converting.
With the results from A/B testing, you can make adjustments to improve the overall UX of your site, and increase conversion rates.
9. Give the user feedback/validation on their actions
User feedback is a crucial element of any successful website. It helps users feel confident their actions are being registered, and it allows you to collect valuable data about how they interact with your site.
There are many ways to provide feedback, but one of the most effective is through real-time validation. This means displaying a message or animation immediately after a user action that confirms the action has been registered. Real-time validation can be used for a variety of purposes, from reassuring users their information has been submitted successfully to indicating a button has been clicked. By providing immediate feedback, you can improve the overall user experience and increase conversion rates.
10. Have a minimalist mindset.
In addition to improving your website’s UX, you also need to have a strong marketing strategy in place to drive traffic to your site and convert visitors into customers. A marketing strategy will clarify what you need to target and how. Once you know this, using a minimalist mindset can help you focus on those truly important things, and streamline your website for maximum impact.
Minimalism in website design is exactly what you think it is. Removing distractions and clutter, and only including the best, most important bits. If you do this effectively, you can create a user-friendly experience that encourages people to stay on your site and take action. In today’s competitive online world, a minimalist mindset is a must if you want to succeed.
There are some general best practices for web design that can help improve the UX of your site. These include using white space effectively, using typography sparingly, designing intuitive navigation menus, using colour thoughtfully, and more.
Note that, sometimes what you think is the most important thing for a user, actually isn’t. Thi is why user research and user testing is so important.
Conclusion
The bottom line is this: if you want people to convert on your website—whether that is making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form—you need to focus on creating a good user experience.
Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to improve the UX of your site. By following the tips above, and keeping some general best practices for web design in mind, you can create a website that’s both easy to use and effective at driving conversions.
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