When people talk about designing or redesigning their website, they are mostly thinking about the way it looks. And that is not a bad thing. Top UX design companies on this list agree that there is more than enlarging the logo, changing the font style, and choosing the right background.
The trouble is that you are competing with the whole world, and with over 1,74 billion websites around the world, you need to make sure your customers stay on your website. This basically means that your website should be usable and useful, with a great user experience.
You can use a lot of different techniques to improve your business in general, but building a strong relationship with your website visitors has proven as a very successful one. Here are some tips and tricks that can help.
Levels of reading
In order to improve your interaction with your visitors, you need to understand the way people consume online content. With the constant evolvement of technology, the time span that you have for each visitor is getting shorter and shorter. Once they are on your page, you need to serve quality content and clear guidelines. No one is taking the time and reading slowly through your website. They scan it. Visitors look for points of interest, important headlines, and guidelines, that can help them save time. And they do that in no particular order.
Don’t think that pages are consumed in linear order. Users stick to what they know and look for similar patterns. Infographics and visuals are much easier for visitors to consume, and an easy way to deliver useful data. Most consumers will scan for the things that they find appealing, and then they will switch to reading if they want to find more. Things like larger or highlighted text can help, and help users find what they need.
Consumers want to be in control
Every visitor wants control over what they are doing – even if it is not real. They are opening your website, and they should be in control over the presented content. So, do not use pop-up windows, especially ones that are not easy to close, and do not open links in new windows, unless it is media content. People like the “Back” function that can take them to the webpage where they have been.
Do not let them wait
The performance of your website is one of the key things that can make or break your business. Visitors do not have the time to wait for your content and all the plugins to load. They do not want to know where you host your websites, and why there is a red exclamation mark near your website’s URL in the browsers. In order to avoid this, you should pick a good hosting provider that will take care of all the things you need, without your interaction, if possible. Good reviews of hosting providers are always a great starting point that can help narrow your options. Make sure that you create a list of things you want and find a matching plan that will suit your needs.
By picking a good provider with well-balanced plans, like Hostinger, you’ll make sure that your website is working like a clock, and that you have the time to take care of content and improve the user experience with your customers.
Know your visitors
By knowing your audience, you are making sure that the content is matching their interests. Once you have a clear idea about who your visitors are and know what they are after, you can create a design that will be tailored for them. Do not be afraid to check out competitors’ websites, and look for design patterns with the successful ones, you might get an idea of your own that can improve one of the existing designs.
One golden rule regarding websites is – Do not make users think. Your page should be obvious. Discard all questions that might arise, and further confuse the users. Their decisions should be logical and intuitive.
Focus on important things
Instead of creating linear timeline-like content, remember that the human eye does not look at the world linearly in 2D. We are faster at recognizing motions, patterns, and edges. Just look at the commercials, there is a reason why they are that annoying. Images are far more likely to attract your attention than text, just as some bold text is more attractive than a regular one. But you should not overdo it. By applying subtle hints, you can focus visitors’ attention on the part of your website that you want. The less the user thinks, the better your design is, so keep it simple.
Include a search box
Even though you’ve done a great job at organizing your website and design, there is no way to keep all the important things on the main page. By including the search box, you can help your customers to find what they want, in a matter of seconds. Also, it is very important not to use generic searches but to opt for fast and effective ones.
Do not forget that while searching, users often make mistakes. Improve your search to cover those misspells and unintentional errors, so that even if someone makes a mistake, your search will still function. Search box autocorrect functionality is one way to go, and pop-up boxes with error notifications are the other one. Make sure not to just inform a user that there was an error, rather provide a simple solution, or instructions on how to overcome it.
Personalized journey
By knowing your audience, I can help you create a more personal approach for your customers. By creating and developing a connection with your visitors, you can improve brand loyalty, and make people want to come back. On the other hand, if your website looks like every other out there, you will be forgotten among other generically designed websites. Try to make your website feel like it was made by real people, and your customers will feel that.
In order to improve your relationship with your customers, most of the website owners miss out on the key ingredient – an emotional connection with users. You should simply think outside the visual aspect box and improve the complete user experience. This way you will build better business relationships with your existing customers and attract new ones.
