Effective Web Design: Building Better User Experience

Simply building a website is not enough anymore. Picking the best keywords is also not long enough to drive traffic to your site. Effective web design must take on several deeper considerations. Here we discuss how web design and user experience go hand-in-hand to create a place where web visitors like to lounge.

Who Is your Ideal Customer?

How do you build a website that pleases visitors if you do not know who visits your site? If you have an existing website, you can gather data to find out who visits the site. If you are planning to employ a website then identifying your target audience is key. The goal for both situations is to attract the correct visitors to your site. To that end, the site must meet the needs of the ideal customer.

People who build sites that offer top user experience begin by developing a list of characteristics that fit who the ideal visitor to the site is. That process is part of inbound marketing, and it deals with targeting specific markets. If the site is not attracting people who want your product, then the site is not doing its job. Good user design takes “who” into consideration.

Who do you want to attract to your site?

Don’t Over Compete with Yourself

A website is like a fine piece of art. When viewed, the eye finds the focal point, and that is what the viewer sees first. Then the rest of the piece of art is examined. The process should be the same for websites. The aesthetics should point the viewer to the elements of the site that you want them to see first. Maybe that is a beautiful photo of a fancy car — if you are selling cars. Maybe it is a subscription button if you want them to subscribe. Whatever “it” is, its design should be purposeful. Once they have seen what you want them to see, make available other tools that a visitor would use. Making it easy for your site visitors to find information, perform a task, or even buy a product is important. Nobody wants to struggle against something to reach a goal. As a site owner, your goal is to make it easy for your site’s visitors to do what you want them to do.

What Do You Want Visitors to Do?

Chaos is not your friend. When websites become chaotic, the different elements of your site begin to compete for attention. When visitors cannot decide what to do their experience becomes negative. By keeping web design comprehensive, but simple visitors find what they want with ease and their experience becomes positive. We have all heard of that expression —Simple Elegance — things can be beautiful and simple.

If your site has secondary goals, then create a path through design that leads visitors on a journey that you provide. Just keep the options easy to find. In so doing, you combine the best of web design with the most positive outcome for the visitor experience.

Keep All Doors Open

Several articles out this year peg internet searches from mobile devices as exceeding those by computers. For a while now, there have been two types of web search devices — the PC and the Smart Device. The problem is that businesses are just coming up to speed on the importance of mobile marketing. For web design, that means creating websites that are user-friendly for both types of visitors. Most local traffic is instant. Someone on a smartphone wants something now, and they have found your site. Let’s hope that your site is compatible with mobile phones. Mobile compatible means visually rich photos that fit on a mobile screen or resize quickly. Clear and easy to access contact information including a one-tap call button. A mobile view will dump you in less than three seconds if your site does not load or if the site is not mobile-friendly.

Do you stand in line at a restaurant where you are being treated rudely by the staff? Chances are you don’t. When mobile searchers struggle with navigating through a website, it is the equivalent of rude service. That is why you only have about three seconds to make them happy. Your competition offers similar products or services at comparable prices, and that means your visitors have choices. Little things drive business, especially in the local market sector.

Tips to Build Better User Experience

Better user experience is as much about online marketing as it is about understanding who your site visitors are. You can build the best site, but if you are not attracting the right visitors, then the site is not doing you any favors.

• Build Smart — Identify who your ideal customer is and then build the site to suit that persona.
• Include mobile and PC technology so that all of your visitors can use the site.
• Keep it Simple — A simply designed site allows you to lead your visitors on a journey.
• Keep it Honest — Make sure that the wording for links and buttons is true to the action. It is irritating when you push a button that says cars, and you get a popup for a newsletter subscription.
• Keep Ads to a minimum or nonexistent.
• Use technology to your advantage. There is a ton of tracking technology that heat maps that show you where visitors go. Use that to fine-tune your site.

The Key to using web design to increase user experience is simply to make it easy for the user to do what you want them to do. A good web design company will ask a ton of questions, including who is your ideal customer. Do you know? We can help you answer that question.

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