Online user experience is a topic that large enterprises spend a lot of time and resources on, but can be ignored by small businesses without budget or specialist resources.
On average 95% of visitors will leave your website and never return. Great UX can help with this, however, and helping users to navigate your site can convert more visitors to customers.
13 key steps to create a great user online experience
- Start with the website objective. Be laser-focused to avoid “feature creep”.
- Sell the benefits of your product or service, not the features. This is timeless marketing best practice but often overlooked.
- Don’t use jargon words in your website content. They confuse non-technical visitors and aren’t necessary for more savvy visitors.
- Develop a content hierarchy, so that visitors don’t get lost.
- Style consistency is key. If multiple authors or designers are involved, make sure they agree on common styles and language.
- Create calls to action. Time-poor visitors appreciate clear pointers.
- Create as few interruptions as possible. Keep in mind the one goal for every section of the website.
- Overcome objections with pre-prepared Q&As or FAQs.
- Ensure you’re easy to contact. If someone wants to speak to you, there’s a good chance it’s an important question they need to answer.
- Develop trust elements including reviews, endorsements, clients and testimonials. Social media testimonials are a great and cost-effective way to find these.
- Perform user testing. It doesn’t have to be expensive and professional; ask a friend or family member for their opinions.
- Decide what is right for you, and don’t follow a “me too” approach when looking at competitors.
- Never stop trying to improve the website. Websites are rarely right first time and so ongoing optimisation can give you significant increases in ROI.