Everyone understands that maintaining a strong online presence is absolutely vital to staying competitive in the modern market. Some companies implement flashy graphics, influencer videos, or even games to attract visitors and try to get them to engage with their brand. However, the most important factor to consider when creating a website is user-friendliness. To develop a website that encourages interactions with visitors and helps direct them along the conversion path, you have to ensure they can easily use your website.
Elements of a User-Friendly Website
The most important elements in keeping your website user-friendly are:
Readability
Visitors should be able to easily scan your website and find valuable information about your company. Your content should be clear, concise, and use relatively simple language to aid comprehension. Strategically place your content in thoughtfully organized sections and fill it with keywords relevant to your products or services. Make sure the typography is legible and the color of your text contrasts with the color of the background. Regardless of how visually appealing a design may be, it should be avoided if it confuses users.
Navigation
Potential customers should not have to work very hard to explore your website and find the information they want. A simple, clear, and effective navigation bar allows visitors to understand what your website offers and helps them to explore further by quickly and effortlessly searching through your website. It breaks the information on your site into consistent, easily digestible chunks so visitors can browse with ease and are therefore more likely to spend more time on your site.
Mobile Compatibility
Over half of global Internet traffic comes from mobile devices. You need to engage users on all platforms, meaning you must optimize your website for mobile viewing. To ensure your content displays well on a smaller screen, you should employ a simple web design and make your site responsive based on the type of device visitors are using to access it. Include large text and buttons that are easy to read and keep your navigation menu simple and minimalistic.
Load Time
Slow speed is one of the main reasons for visitors leaving webpages without engaging or converting. Users are accommodated to getting results fast, so an underperforming website will make them lose interest, leave your page, and probably drive them right into the hands of the competition. You should aim for a load speed of 4-6 seconds for your website and perform regular website maintenance to keep it performing at an optimal speed.
How a User-Friendly Website Impacts Your Business
User-friendly websites influence the success of your business in a number of ways, including:
Enhances User Satisfaction
When you design a user-friendly website that visitors can navigate and understand easily, they will enjoy engaging with your brand. By inspiring confidence and enhancing your credibility, you help secure and maintain the loyalty of your customers. A visitor that believes you care about their experience and will inspire them to keep coming back to your company because they know you offer a solution to meet their needs. Satisfied customers also tend to share their positive experience with friends,
Lengthens the Amount of Time Users Spend on Your Site
The more satisfied users are when interacting on your website, the longer they will spend examining the information it provides. In contrast, when visitors access your website only to leave right away, this signals to search engines that the content you offer does not sufficiently meet the needs of visitors. Typically, this causes search engines like Google to push your site further down on results pages, which significantly reduces the number of many potential customers who see your site.
Increases Conversion Rates
When members of your target audience enjoy navigating your website and spend longer periods of time browsing it, they are more likely to travel further down the conversion path. If you operate an eCommerce site, make sure your product order forms are simple and provide any information a visitor would need to make a purchase. Online shoppers faced with tricky navigation options or forced to constantly reload pages to find information are much less inclined to complete a sale. Also, consider the location of your call to action buttons, so they display at the most opportune spot.
Improves SEO Rankings
Enhanced satisfaction, longer time spent browsing, and increased conversion all factor into your SEO rankings. Low bounce rates and high conversion rates indicate to search engines that you offer informative, valuable content to users. This improves your rankings on search engine results pages, exposing more potential customers to your website. With nearly 92% of visitors never looking beyond the first page of search results, your SEO rankings form an integral component of your digital marketing campaign.
