By doing a little fine-tuning to your website you will present users with a buttery smooth experience that demonstrates clarity and approachability - boosting appeal to new and recurring customers.

Speed is key

Whether you’re at home in front of your desktop or on the go with your mobile device, the user experiences for both should be smooth, responsive, and most importantly, fast. Load times need to be kept to a few seconds or less. People are impatient these days, and if your site takes too long to load consumers lose interest and take their business elsewhere.

“Bounce rate” is defined as the percentage of visitors that leave a webpage without taking an action. By having a snappy website, you will find your bounce rate will reduce as users will be greeted with the information they want in a timely fashion.

Content is clean, clear, and under control

Make sure the content structure in your site is straightforward and easily digestible. Broken/incoherent text or sentences that run on too long disinterest the user and they will be unlikely to read the important information buried in your site. Clearly break up your website into ‘bite-sized’ chunks using sections or pages to allow users to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for – especially if you are a service provider.  

It is also important to note that the basic layout of your website should ideally be the same as most other sites, with your logo in the top left, and your navigation bar running across the top or down the side. If it’s not in these areas, it can confuse the audience as they will be looking in the “normal” area for that information.

Accessibility for all

Simple naming conventions for your images, and using the appropriate tags on your site will enable consumers with disabilities to easily navigate through your content. Users with visual impairment will often use audio-based software to operate their devices, so by having your images named accordingly the user can get an idea of what they are ‘seeing’ by the descriptive nature of the image names.

It is also good design practice to use proper hierarchy, making headings large and using fonts that stand out well from the background paired with strong contrasting colours.

Pesky Pop-ups

Invasive pop-ups are one of the most frustrating things when it comes to user experience. However, when done correctly, can help with engagement on your website and lead to more enquiries or sales.

When creating a pop-up, it’s essential to have these qualities:

1. Proper timing – depending on the context, some pop-ups work better if they come up right away. Alternatively, you can have the pop-up display after the user has scrolled past a certain point on your site. Either way, your intent is to be helpful or enticing, so you do not want to tarnish the experience with rogue pop-ups.
   
2. Easy for users to exit – Make sure the ‘X’ icon or ‘close’ button is clearly visible. Allow users to click anywhere outside the pop-up window to exit as well. You want to keep the experience unrestrictive and positive by not making the user jump through hoops. Best to keep it simple.
   
3. Incentivise an action – Encourage users to make a purchase or to get in touch by offering something for free - for example an educational resource or “ebook”.

Only a phone call away

As previously stated, most users are impatient. So when it comes to people getting in touch, there are a few ways you can make this simple and straightforward.

A ‘contact us’ button on the navigation bar is the most popular way for users to contact. This button can be a click-to-call which automates the dialling process, so users don’t have to fumble around with phone numbers. Or you can have it set up to open a contact form for users to fill out with necessary details such as; name, phone, email, and subject/reason of enquiry.

Make the most of your website with these helpful hints. If you need any help with your website or are looking to refresh yours, get in touch today.