31 Aug How's Your Users' Experience?
Many amateur Web designers (often business owners themselves) don’t take a user’s experience into account when setting up their site. A good user experience (UX) is crucial in improving a site’s bounce rate (how fast your readers leave your site). The longer a viewer is on the site, the more likely they are to become a customer! There are some small things that professional Web designers know will improve a blog or site’s UX.
Don’t make assumptions! You may assume that your readers know that clicking on an image will take them somewhere, but not everyone does. Add a link for the same path for those readers who are not as savvy as others.
Make your navigation bar clear. Whether it is on the side bar or across the top, your navigation bar should always include HOME, ABOUT US and CONTACT US at the minimum and be visible in the same location on every page. Surprisingly, even some large corporations bury their contact information at the bottom or elsewhere on the site.
Make sure your blog has a link to your main site that is clearly visible. You want readers to get back to your main site easily in case you have purchase options or to contact you.
Be sure your service/product offerings are clearly displayed. Whether that is a tab in your navigation bar that says “Products” or “Shop” or “Services”, be sure it is there and consistently displayed in every page.
Don’t neglect testimonials! One of the best things you can do is show legitimate testimonials on your page and if you can get a customer or client to record a video of their testimonial, make sure this is prominent on your site.
Make sure your site is easy to read. For digital text, use a sans serif type font (Arial and Helvetica are common choices), not a serif font like Times New Roman (serifs are those little legs that letters sit on). Be sure that there is enough contrast between font color and background color.
Leave enough white space. Eyes need a place to rest. If a site is crammed full of images and text, readers will get fatigued quickly and move on. Content in articles and text needs to be broken up with paragraph breaks, bullet points, etc.
Ratio7.com does Web site reviews and will offer input on how you can improve your user experience or can do a site redesign for you, improving your UX and search engine optimization. Give us a call and let us know how we can help.