Website Experience

Have you ever visited a website and was like, “Ehh.. this doesn’t seem right”? Or “Wow this looks interesting!”? If you have these kinds of reactions to a website, then we label that as website experience. However, these user experiences are not limited to only the visuals of a website but also functionality and usability. And let’s not talk about the number of times we have been so frustrated watching the screen load for what seems like an eternity. Well, these collective negative and positive experiences help us know what is right and wrong for our websites.

Additionally, there have been websites that have made us want to come back again and again and made our work really easy and quick. It is pleasant to see and has a smooth interface. So, what makes the websites that good? How do we implement those features to have a positive experience? And overall, how can we label our websites as good? How can we be so sure that our websites can collect positive user experiences? If you were looking for the answers to these questions, you have come to the right article.

Why is Website User Experience Important?

While creating a website, we should consider the main component for the website’s success: the users. It is in the hands of users to either make the website a hit or a miss. A positive user experience depends on many things, which we will dive deeper into later in this article. But for now, let’s discuss some of the reasons why website user experience is important.

• To ensure user satisfaction. Everyone likes a smooth and fast interaction with a website where the task at hand is done within a few seconds. A great website user experience means the user is satisfied, increasing the chances of user engagement.
• To earn a loyal and supporting audience. You see when you have a positive experience with a website, you are likely to visit the website more than other competing websites.
• To increase the conversion rate. Any website with a good UX can turn website visitors into potential customers. This is called lead conversion and is crucial for the success of a business or service. 
• Making a website inclusive is also a part of a good user experience. This increases the chances of emotional connection with users, which can help in reaching a wider audience. 
• A website focused on good user experience design increases the probability of higher rankings in search engines. The more visible the website is, the more it will attract new and unique visitors. 

Overall, with a website focused on UX design, it is important not only to reach the target audience for the business but also to reach a wider audience. Implementing best practices for website design helps greatly in reducing bounce rates. Bounce rate is just a fancy term for the rate of people entering and leaving a website rather than continuing with the same site. Moreover, being labeled as a good website is much more than just only the user interface. 

How to Improve User Experience on the Website

We know all the benefits and importance of prioritizing a positive user experience through good UX design. Now, the real deal is knowing the ways to implement it. There is a whole book about user interfaces and the right design process to follow when designing a website. But I will just tell you the 8 tips or principles you NEED to know to improve your website’s user experience. The principles listed below are summarized versions of Schneiderman’s 8 Golden Rules. 

1. Consistency
2. Shortcuts
3. Informative feedback
4. Dialog closure
5. Error prevention and handling
6. Action reversibility
7. User control
8. Memory load reduction

These rules are important to consider when making any user interface, whether a mobile-friendly website or a complex web application. Furthermore, we can also consider Nielson’s 10 usability heuristics for increasing the usability of a website. We can put together a list of 10 tips, 8 similar to Schneiderman’s golden rules and an extra two from usability heuristics. That includes help and documentation and matching the system with the real world. 

Layout or Architecture:

The website’s layout should be simple, minimalistic, consistent, and easy to navigate. And whatever the website’s focus, we can present it in a user-friendly way. Maintaining consistency in layout makes it easy for users to interact. Suppose you are using rectangles to represent key features of your websites. Then, when a user sees another rectangle, they can easily guess that the information in the box is important, but the information in the diamond box might be less important. This way of prioritizing content helps save time and increase engagement.

Likewise, making the website responsive i.e. fitting to all sizes of devices, makes it usable. We should present information in a uniform flow and with no clutter. We can also integrate screen readers or text-size zooming features to include people with disabilities. Overall, with careful usage of layout and architecture, we can communicate the main components of the website.

Design or Style

The website design should follow a uniform pattern for design or style. This includes consistent themes, color schemes, and familiar styles on interactive elements. This helps create a sense of familiarity with the content and ease of user use. Additionally, having a consistent style makes a website look professional and credible. Knowing when to use white spaces is important for reducing clutter and increasing readability. 

Therefore, while designing a website, think about what aligns with your brand. Aesthetically pleasing typography styles or color palettes and other brand elements are necessary for creating a positive first impression of the website. Well-designed elements play a role in smooth interactions with website elements. Likewise, how you design or style your website is vital for evaluating the usability of a website. 

Featured Content

The featured content should be mainly focused on communicating the purpose of the website. The website design and every element or component in the website should represent the goal of the website. For example, suppose you run a cafe. For a cafe, the related color schemes could be brown or beige, representing coffee.

Similarly, the logo should convey the main goal so that when users see it, they immediately know what service you are providing. You can feature blogs about types of coffee or health benefits within your website to cater to other users’ needs. You can also use eye-catching colors, typography, or elements to represent featured content and gain the immediate attention of visitors to your website.

User Navigation

When you visit a website, you expect to gain information from it. So, you begin to interact with the website, trying to figure out the missing piece of information. What happens when you can’t find the checkout page or trace back to the home page? We get impatient or even frustrated. Now, we are already encountering a negative experience, which is not the goal if we want to reduce the bounce rates. 

Additionally, we can make use of various buttons for easy navigation. We can also include Alt texts for images so that screen readers can help users form a mental image of the pictures. Moreover, the information the users are searching for should be presented in a well-organized and clear way. We can do this by having a sidebar menu, predictable placement of interactive elements, and well-structured navigation bars. 

Mobile Devices Adaptation

Have you ever clicked on a website while you were on your phone and found out that it’s not responsive? Let me tell you that it’s a shared feeling. The feeling of annoyance when you have to drag your finger sideways just to access the sidebar menu. You click one item in the sidebar, and it takes you to another page, where you have to again drag your finger across the screen to read all that information spread from one side to another. 

Some of you may have no idea what I’m talking about because you exited the website as soon as you found out that it’s not responsive. Therefore, a website should accommodate all the device sizes. It increases the number of visitors to your website as you include all the device sizes. However, when you cater only to desktop users, the number of visitors can be low. This can cause negative experiences for users and impact your business negatively. 

Does User Experience Matter for Business

User Experience does matter for business. One of the most important components of a business is to have a website representing the brand. Before using any service or business, the website is the first impression for the users to know how well the service will be. 

1. Customer retention: The retention rate refers to the percentage of people who return to the websites. A good retention rate ranges from 35% to 85%. If the retention rate is high, it usually signals user satisfaction and a good experience. This can be a good thing for the business reputation. 
2. Customer engagement: A positive experience while using a website can generate positive feedback. While constructive feedback from users themselves is necessary to grow a business, a user-friendly website helps users engage with the website. This helps businesses gain an idea of the needs of the target users to cater to their needs better. 
3. Long-term customer relationship: Having new and unique visitors for a website is as equally important as having a loyal customer. Long-term customers are the base for the success of a business. To attract these long-term users, the website has to be usable and user-friendly, as it is the first entry point to the business. 
4. Increases organic traffic: If your website does well in creating a great user experience, then prepare it to be the talk among friends or family members. This drives organic traffic to your website, which is required to generate wider customers.
5. SEO benefits: We have already talked about conversion rates and how having an amazing experience using a website can turn visitors into customers and leads. This helps maximize sales and revenue and gives a competitive advantage.

If a website performs well in terms of catering to the users and letting them have a positive experience, it not only helps the business related to the website as a whole but can also help with the success of other aspects of the business.

Conclusion

Therefore, a positive experience depends on many things and influences many aspects of a business. A usable website makes your content more readable. A usable website is not only limited to UI design but also considers user experiences. This includes how users interact with your website without any disturbances like encountering a 404 error page or slow page load. You get the idea: well-designed website pages that help users to move seamlessly and have a consistent design. 

Likewise, a lack of functionality, accessible features, and old-fashioned design practices can make your website feel old and outdated. So, try to avoid those as much as possible. You can also get started on improving your user interface design by paying attention to the most important aspects like usability, responsiveness, and visual appeal. 

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