A good, user-friendly website is one of the most important factors when it comes to having a successful website. If your website is not easy to use, you can be sure it will not only turn away customers, but it will also make it difficult for people to find what they are looking for when they visit your site. This can be a fatal mistake for any online business. Thankfully, there are ways to ensure your site is easy to use so that customers have a pleasant experience visiting it.
Real effects of a website that is not user-friendly
The consequences can be disastrous to your business and the entire reason you have invested all your time and money into starting up your own business. The overall experience can make or break your business.
What is most likely to happen when your website frustrates a user who can’t find what they are looking for?
- The first thing they’ll definitely do is leave your site and try out your competitor’s page instead
- You end up building a bad reputation for your business
- No frustrated user will recommend your business to others
- And last but not least, you’ll lose money as most the prospects will run away from your business, and will not share your content if they’re unhappy
Before we continue, just take a moment and ask yourself this. Are you missing out on potential new leads because your website has problems that you’re not aware of? Worry not, because we got you covered. Check out our free guide that is available now, where we help you understand how to evaluate the success of your website.
Below are the fundamental things a website should do:
Be easy to navigate
A website should be easy to navigate. It’s no secret that most people who visit your website will use their phone to do so. It’s also no secret that most people browse the internet in a hurry and their first priority is to get to the page they want as quickly as possible. As a result, your website should be easy to navigate. If your website is hard to navigate and difficult to read, people will quickly get frustrated and leave, which is bad for your business and will lower your SEO.
Other aspects to consider include:
- Good search feature
- Multiple ways to explore content
- Custom 404 Page
- Good Internal Linking
- Informative header and footer
Improve site layout
A layout for a web page is the way in which it’s designed to be understood. A good layout is the most important thing for any website. If the layout is bad, it will not look good no matter how good the content is. The layout directly impacts the user’s experience. If the layout is good, the user will feel good, the interaction will be smooth, and the user will feel that the website is comfortable and has a good atmosphere.
Fast load speed
Page speed is one of the top 3 issues that has a direct impact on SEO rankings, bounce rates and conversion rates. Research shows that slow websites see a 21% increase in bounce rate and a 19% decrease in conversion rates. Clearly, those are some serious numbers.
A fast website is the one which the page loads within about 2 seconds, but you should make sure that your website loads within at least 4 to 6 seconds.
Don’t be scared though, because there are tools today like pingdom that will help you check your website’s speed and give you tips on how to speed up your site.
Have clear and strong calls to action
A call to action is a web page element that gives visitors a clear and specific instruction on what action to take next. For example, “Book Now,” “Subscribe Now,” “Buy Now,” “Learn More,” or “Contact Us.” If you are a business owner, your website needs a clear and strong call to action. If you are a web designer, your website design must have a clear call to action. Whatever it is that you want the customer to do it needs to be presented clearly and simply on your website!
Provide contact information and make information easy to locate
This is almost obvious but it’s important that we talk about it. A website should have contact information because people should be able to contact you. Never risk losing potential prospects by making it difficult to contact you. It is also very important to leave your visitors options of getting in touch you as opposed to only one way, as this allows them to reach out using the platform they prefer, such as Facebook, Twitter, on email, they can call or drop a DM if you leave your phone number, or even directly schedule a zoom meeting if you give them that option. Also make it easy for them to find the information. Everything should be stated clearly and concisely so that consumer questions are answered before they can be asked.
Conclusion
You should do your best to make sure all visitors to your site have the best experience ever, if you want your business to thrive and get more conversions.
What you need to remember is that some of the most basic and proven usability tips include proper use of taglines, intuitive navigation, concise content, and strategic use of visuals. Avoid confusing features or functionality. Make sure your website is always customer-oriented and helps them solve a problem or address their pain!
Don’t forget to download our free guide today which will help you make improvements to your website, because if you don’t it will be difficult for your potential customers to find you.
