Developing a new website is a way of a company to freshen things up, to give themselves a new lease of life and even to "stay current" in an ever-evolving world. The technology industry is changing every few minutes it seems, but just about every other sector is going through transition too with many focussing their attentions in the online space.
The website is now the first thing many customers and clients come into contact with regarding your company, a bit like the phone book used to be in the 1990s and a lot of customers will never physically walk into a particular shop despite being loyal customers to the brand online.
That brand loyalty is built over time with users interacting with the company and buying their products for various reasons. Perhaps they like the products and feel the urge to spend their money on them, maybe they think it's the best value for money in the industry or perhaps they've seen the products in the celebrity magazines or on the social networks and want to copy the trend.
Whatever the reason, there is one thing that is certain to make a brand fall flat on its face, losing its customers in one go. The user experience, frequently shortened to UX, is key to the success of a website and yet it's one of the most frequently overlooked aspects when business owners look for a site to be redesigned or built from scratch.They know that they want to have their products added, they want to get their brand colours and message across and they want to find a way to persuade customers to buy from them. In today's world they also know that they need to be well optimised for the search engines, but they frequently forget about the usability of the site and the way that potential customers can navigate around it.
If people can't work their way around the site, they're not going to buy from you. Think about it in the "old school" sense of shopping in the town or city centre. If a shop looks messy, you're not going to go in and buy anything. The same is true online.
London USIO recently said in an interview with What's New in Publishing , that the biggest consideration when it comes to website design is to remove the clutter. They said that having "too much irrelevant information can cause users to be overwhelmed and can deter them from interacting with your website", and this is exactly what happens in the retail stores.
If customers are climbing over items on the floor or if there is just too much for them to browse, they're going to get frustrated and leave.
Another key consideration surrounds the content on your site. You want to make sure that you're talking to people in the right way to avoid offending them, even if you don't mean to. While you might understand the industry and what you're talking about, some potential customers may not have a clue, so you need to make sure that you don't use too much jargon.
At the same time, however, you don't want to "dumb it down" so far that you offend the intelligence of customers who do know the industry. It's a fine line between getting it right and getting it wrong, and that is where a quality copywriter with a knowledge of the industry can be of benefit and as highlights, this article from Marketing Land "content is king, but context is queen". This means that while the content itself is what people will read, see and listen to; the way it is put is just as important.
Finally, if only to keep the list of UX-tips brief for you try yourselves, it's imperative that you understand the actions of the users that have already interacted with your site. The likes of Google Analytics allow you to look at what your visitors have done on the site, where they have come from, even what they have searched for (to an extent).
This enables you to look at your strong and weak points so that any enhancements that you make to your site are in the right areas.
If you can understand why a particular area is performing well, but another is not, then you can work on the improvements. If you know that a lot of visitors are going straight to product pages, make sure that they are easy to navigate to make sure that you clinch that sale or enquiry at the very least.
The bounce rate could be key in this aspect. If one particular page has a high bounce rate, people are clearly not finding what they're looking for or not happy with their experience on the page (or site as a whole). Take a look at your best-performing pages, the ones that lead to those all important enquiries or sales, and think about how you can do something similar to improve the 'poorer' pages.
Unfortunately there is no quick-fix, one-size-fits-all approach to UX, as every user is looking for something different to satisfy their craving. However, if you can understand the intentions of the users coming to your site then you can at least do everything you can to make sure that they feel at home with your brand.
Abbi Gabasa is the Managing Editor of MsCareerGirl.com and owner of UpraisedLiving.com. Having the background of a Marketing and Public Relations Manager with years of professional experience in various industries has given her an insightful perspective on careers, lifestyles, relationships, and attitudes which she humorously applies in helping people through her writing. Abbi is a training life coach, and an advocate of children's charities, women empowerment, optimistic thinking, and slow Sundays. A self-confessed Jane of all trades, she hopes to help girls all over the world find their calling and pursue their passions.
