Blog

Over the last few years, user experience has become more main stream. Those responsible for developing and managing websites are now looking at user-data for clues on how to build a better website. The goal with most website projects is to create a user experience that quickly and easily moves visitors through the site and to the information they desire most. Although there are many ways to create a memorable user experience, the following are 3 tips to help you get started:

Review Your Analytics.

Most companies try to force users to interact with a website in a specific way – providing easy-to-find links they think users need most. However, most of the time they get it wrong. Their first mistake is not reviewing their analytics to determine which pages users are visiting and interacting with the most, and instead put up “road blocks” to the information the user wants. This obviously makes the site harder to use. Reviewing your site’s analytics and learning how people use it is the first step to a more user-friendly website.

If you don’t already have analytics on your website, I certainly suggest adding some. Google Analytics is a great starting point and will provide you with various insights. I think you will be very surprised at what you discover.

Improve, again and again.

Great digital experiences take continuous improvement. Update your site on a regular basis to find what works and what doesn’t. Once you find something that works and users are interacting with your site in a way that lets them find the content quickly and easily keep it that way. It most likely will take years and multiple versions to get your website to this point. The smallest details can make a huge difference for user experience. Improving things like link color, button color or background color can help make users want buy, sign up or ask for more information. A website is never “done” constantly improving your website is going to help you create a memorable user experience.

Integrate social media.

If you haven’t yet accepted the fact that social media is here to stay, now is the time to do so. Generally speaking, your website visitors may wish to interact with your brand and share your site’s content. You should opt for providing site users with the ability to share, tweet, pin, or like your content, as this has become the new norm of the web. Users expect this level of usability and functionality from today’s website, and by not providing it you risk your site appearing old, dated, and unfriendly.

If your current website is lacking and needs to be revised, I encourage you to begin with these 3 opportunities. Improving little-by-little is better than not improving at all. Users expect to navigate your site easily, and find the content they came to the site for. In fact, the first item on the list of Google’s core values is “Focus on the user and all else will follow.” If that doesn’t sum up the need for great user experience I don’t know what does.