As Internet technologies continue transforming how people live, learn, and work, website design has come under a rigorous new standard. Users want what they need in the blink of an eye—and expect it to be easy. As a result, you must stay ahead of the curve and leverage design best practices if your business thrives.
The good news is that these so-called UX best practices are surprisingly easy to incorporate into your website development process with minimal effort.
Use the website like an end user
You need to know your customer through and through. Test the website for usability before publishing it to ensure it meets customer expectations. One of the methods for testing should be user journey software that can identify sticking points in the customer experience.
Take a step back from your website and pretend you are a first-time user. Try navigating through it to see if it feels intuitive to you and if it provides easy access to the information you need. Then, have someone unfamiliar with your brand try to use your site and pay attention to their thoughts and questions.
Does it work the way you would expect? Is the website inviting, engaging, and delightful like you’d want it to be for your customers? Chances are, if it’s not, your customers feel the same way and may leave your site without taking action.
Optimize your page load speed
High-speed Internet access is essential to the success of most businesses. People want to get what they need and get out and fast. Before you even think about adding more content or graphics to your site, you need a good foundation.
Optimize the way your website loads. You need a fast, lean-and-mean website design with minimal content so your site can load in a few seconds.
Use clear, honest path maps to organize your pages and make them easy to find in search engines. A well-structured markup like HTML5 and CSS3 can keep your site clean and clutter-free.
Using CSS instead of JavaScript to load your site’s content can significantly affect page load times. CSS is not as resource intensive and can substantially affect load time on mobile devices and slower computer connections.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to eliminate problems that slow down pages. A CDN is a group of locations where your live website files are stored. You can access it to deliver faster worldwide, saving time when receiving page requests.
Focus on clarity and simplicity
Your customers want the information they need to decide quickly, so they want your website to be clear and straightforward. Simplicity will be the crucial factor in whether or not you’ll convert visitors into customers.
Keep things simple. Remove any graphics, buttons, images, or videos that seem unnecessary for users to navigate your site.
Make sure your website is mobile responsive
Most users in the digital age access the internet on their smartphones and tablets. With that in mind, ensure your website is mobile-friendly and optimized to ensure your business gets the right “click” when it’s time to buy.
Your home page is your customer’s first and most important impression of your brand. A responsive design approach allows you to control your site’s appearance, regardless of the screen size. In addition, a responsive design means the content and functionality of your site adapt to fit different resolutions.
Fit your content to your device, so it’s easy to read and understand. You don’t want to make users squint or strain, nor do you want a horizontal, stretched layout that causes text to appear pixelated when viewed on a small display.
Avoid text-blocking ads or pop-ups that force your customer to pinch and zoom. These are all things your users will notice, and if they’re dissatisfied, they’ll take their business elsewhere.
Add solid and clear CTAs
A solid call to action may be the difference between a great experience and a terrible one. If you want your site to gain customers and convert them into people who buy, you need to make it easy for your visitors to get the information they want.
Conduct user research before deciding on your CTA button text. Consider if your CTA will perform better if it asks users to “sign up” or “register,” or if it should be more straightforward, like “Subscribe Now.” Test different CTAs and see which ones get the best results.
Use your website’s CTA buttons, icons, and texts clearly and succinctly to make it easy for visitors to find what they need. Include links to all the essential parts of your site that are relevant to your users, and make sure those links are labeled clearly. Use bright colors and high contrast so users can find them easily in a sea of information.
When you include CTA buttons, make sure they are not just functional but also show your brand’s personality. You want to match your website’s aesthetic to your target audience.
Optimize your website for search engines
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical component of any website. It would help if you made sure search engines found your pages so your customers could quickly and easily access the information or product they want.
SEO involves ensuring your site’s code is clean and easy for search engines to index. Create a solid on-page content structure with prominent headings and lists of important information that will benefit your users.
Use well-structured markup to indicate page breaks so search engines know where the content ends so you can get it listed in the search results.
Perform keyword research to determine your website’s keyword phrases. Your company will want to optimize for the keywords that will show up on the search engine results page (SERP) so potential customers can find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
Increase page authority to improve your site’s ranking in search engines. One way to do this is by including quality backlinks from high-authority sites. The more relevant and relevant backlinks you have, the higher your ranking in SERPs will be—helping your customers find you even more straightforward.
Keep branding consistent across your website
Your branding is one of the first impressions your customers will get of you, so you must ensure that it is clear and consistent across all your digital platforms. Ensure your branding appears on every page of your website, from your social media icons to the color scheme used on your buttons and links. Make sure what you do and what problems you can solve for a customer are clear.
Use consistent graphics across different mediums. If you’re using a specific logo or design style in print marketing material, you must ensure that the same logo or design style is used on your website and in video content.
A consistent tone of voice and visuals are essential for keeping your brand message straight. Make sure your customers understand who you are and what you do in every aspect of your company.
Consistency also makes it easier for users to recognize and relate to you, which is critical for brands who want to stand apart from their competitors
Before you go
The most crucial point is that website owners must remain in control of the experience their site creates for users. Consider how website visitors will want to interact. This way, you ensure a top-notch user experience that can make a big difference in the success of your business.
