In today’s world your website is the first impression of your business. A website is one of your greatest tools and can potentially be one of your most important assets. It is critical to provide your users with a positive user experience both on mobile devices such as your iPhone, iPad or Android devices and on their desktop computers such as a windows PC or Apple Desktop.
Here are some tips from our design guide on how to improve your website and create a positive website user experience directly from our Web Development Team
Let’s dive in-
Use White Space To Your Advantage
Effectively utilizing white space is oftentimes considered to be one of the most critical elements in website design. Well created margins (the negative space) surrounding images and text blocks can help them stand out, enhancing your contents readability and attractiveness. The idea is to find a good balance in using white space to help better focus the users attention on what’s most important.
Improving your page speed with Modern Optimization Strategies.
Most people would agree that it is frustrating when a page takes a long time to load. With a majority of web users being on mobile devices, they want fast and easy results. According to Econsultancy. 40% of visitors leave a site after 3 or more seconds of loading time.
Do you think you need to speed your website up? Visit hookerandcompany.com/audit and we will send you a free audit of your website!
Effectively Using Calls To Action
Visual cues help visitors navigate content on your site. Those cues are referred to as calls to actions. Calls to actions(CTA’s) are generally bold buttons illustrating active words. CTA’s help navigate your visitors towards what is important to them.
When creating CTA’s, certain colors evoke different feelings. Be mindful of what message you want to evoke in a user. This is an area where you can get creative! Secondly the word or words you choose for your buttons should include active verbs that help prompt the user to move forward.
Creating well-designed headings 🏆 (( This Is Where The Fun Starts )) 🏆
Headings on your website should stand out and provide an accurate description of what your customers are looking for. With that, using keywords in your titles is also important in targeting your message to the right audience.
Google tends to give headings more weight compared to content. So, using the right headings and keywords will improve your overall site experience and positively impact searchability and or search engine optimization(SEO).
Hyperlink Differentiation
When adding a link to a page, be sure the links are easily identifiable. Using visual cues is an easy way to draw the reader’s attention and let them know the link can be clicked.
Also take into consideration the lengths of your link. The general rule of thumb is the longer the link the easier it is for a reader to identify.
Segment Key information using bullet points
The use of bullet points:
- makes it easier for your visitors to find what they want quickly.
- Using bullet points enables them to find the solutions, featured products, benefits and more in a short amount of time.
There are other creative ways to include/create bullet points as images/icons which can help provide visual recognition to the important points you want them to focus on.
Use Photos and Graphics
Using authentic images on your site is important to providing visitors appeal and allows you to convey your brand to your visitors.
Authentic imagery will help to provide a genuine and satisfying website user experience.
Website page consistency
Make sure everything on your website matches. The design, pages, styles, coloring, photos and so on should be themed coherently. Everything should be according to your Brand Guidelines.
You want to provide your users with a positive and comfortable experience. Make sure that navigating through your website has a smooth and consistent flow.
404 errors
404 errors (Page not found) frustrated users, not only that but many times makes them rethink spending time on your site. This ruins the user experience and leads them to go elsewhere. If you would like us to Audit your website we can help you prevent crawl errors. Make a unique 404 Page with a Call To Action.
Navigation & Mobile Friendly
Make your website mobile friendly and easy to navigate. Having a well designed navigation bar will allow your visitors to more easily navigate through all your pages and content you have available and are aiming to provide.
Sources
Jiminez, Darling. “10 Tips That Can Drastically Improve Your Website’s User Experience.” HubSpot Blog, 29 October 2018, https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/improve-your-websites-user-experience
Byrne, Shawn. “Ways to Improve Your Website’s User Experience.” Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog, https://blog.shift4shop.com/improve-website-user-experience
Lofgren, Lars. “A Simple Guide to Website Usability – 2022 Best Practices.” QuickSprout, 12 December 2020, https://www.quicksprout.com/website-usability/