The user experience (UX) defines how and when customers interact with your website, from the first time they land on the page until the moment they convert. As an integral part of website design, businesses need to take UX seriously to achieve their goals and stay ahead of the competition. If you intend to make a user-friendly, effective website, make it a priority to understand website UX design.
But what website UX best practices should you consider as you design your website? And how can you maximize the entire user experience from start to finish, ensuring smooth and efficient access across the board?
The key is to create a website that caters to the needs of your user base. Here’s what you need to know.
1. Be Concise and Clear
Your website copy determines whether users stay on or leave your site. Keep your text short and to the point. Your language should be easy to understand and free from jargon or technical language only industry insiders would know. Break text up with visuals, especially appealing infographics or videos — they help your audience engage with and absorb the information you provide.
Remember that many visitors will be accessing the web from mobile devices. In addition to thinking about how your website will look on a desktop or laptop, you should also design with mobile devices in mind. Optimize your images and text so that they look good on different screen sizes. Your audience should be able to visit your website just as easily on a PC as on an iPhone.
Your navigation menus should fulfill a few critical criteria, such as being:
- Intuitive
- Logical
- Easy to understand and use
Keep it consistent. You want new users to understand the navigational structure intuitively and at a glance without having to waste a lot of time trying to figure out where to go. A drop-down menu is a superb choice, as you can group disparate items together, creating a better user experience and a more organized look for your site.
You’ll also want to layer in several calls to action (CTAs) at various points across the website. CTAs drive your users to take the next step, whether that’s filling out a form, downloading an app, or signing up for your company newsletter — whatever you need. Articulate what you want them to do, and you’ll find your customers happy to oblige.
2. Perform Usability Testing
Testing your website allows you to find issues before they become significant problems. You can run usability testing to better understand how your audience interacts with and uses your website. It offers insights into customer behavior patterns, showing you where improved design could enhance the customer experience.
For instance, you can conduct A/B website testing to check the performance of different website versions. That means taking two iterations of a website and running them side-by-side to see which performs best. You can experiment with unique design elements in a simulated environment before customers experience them in the real world.
Usability testing also allows you to pinpoint areas of your website that need more focus and attention, such as:
- Broken links
- Slow loading times
- Clumsy navigation choices
- Anything else that hinders loading speeds
Remember that page load speed is one of the most important aspects of website UX; optimize images and large files to ensure your site runs quickly. You can reduce redirects, bounces, and lag that frustrate users and convince them to take their precious business elsewhere.
3. Plan Out the Customer Journey
How will new visitors actually interact with your website? What will be the first thing they see, and what will they do next? These are some of the most important questions to consider as you design your website UX, particularly regarding flow and navigation.
The customer journey decides:
- How fast users find what they’re looking for.
- What information your site presents to the user, and when.
- Which areas of the website to emphasize and how.
- The different choices available to users at each step of the journey.
Optimize your customer journey to guide users through with ease, helping them complete whatever purpose they have in mind.
They might be there to learn more about your product. Do you have information ready to oblige them? They could be there to make a purchase today. Is your buying process optimized and easy to complete?
Strategic Use of Visuals
You can and should use visuals to break up the flow of text on the page. It does more than make things more visually appealing. Images naturally guide the flow of reading, allowing customers to digest what they’re learning and inviting them to explore further.
Powerful images also determine the tone. This is an essential element to consider in UX design. Without a few compelling or resonant images layered throughout the page, your writing is, quite literally, just black and white. Use images to give your words the emotional context they would otherwise lack.
Just as strong verbs and adjectives can bring your website to life, so do the visuals you present. They conduct your visitor’s emotions underneath the surface. This is a powerful tool in your design arsenal, so use it thoughtfully.
4. Make it Accessible
Website accessibility is about keeping it simple. Overly complicated navigation menus, lots of buttons leading to irrelevant information, and overly complicated body copy can all detract from the user experience. Left unchecked, these little details stand in the way of customers successfully making a purchase.
Analysis paralysis is a real thing. Instead of overloading your customers with too much information, contextualize and simplify the data on each page. It eases navigation, reduces clutter, and lets customers focus on their own priorities. You’re still guiding the customer journey from behind the scenes, but your presence is invisible and unintrusive.
For example, you can use the visitor’s IP address to source their geolocation and provide more relevant, tailored content. If they’re in a specific city that you serve, you can highlight your services in their area of interest. Instead of fumbling around multiple pages to find what they’re looking for, you can offer them direct, context-relevant information that piques their interest precisely.
Working With an Expert UX Team
Even though website UX design can seem like a complicated process, there’s no reason to stress over it. Collaborating with a team like NeONBRAND lets you leverage our experience in website design to create a powerful website that accelerates your business growth at every turn. Contact us to schedule a consultation and learn more about our services.