User experience is becoming increasingly important. In fact, a good user experience is a key part of an effective website. A site that is easy to navigate and satisfies its visitors allows people to accomplish their goals and tasks quickly and easily. Users have a much better chance of returning to the site. There are many elements that contribute to making a good website. This article aims at making a small business owner more aware at what to expect out of someone designing a website for their business.
It’s all about the user experience
User experience is the experience a user has when interacting with a product or service. It’s a key component of any website, but it’s important to remember that user experience isn’t just about the aesthetics and design of your site—it’s also about how people feel about using your site, and whether or not they actually managed to accomplish what they wanted from using it.
User experience (UX) is basically the sum of all interactions between you, as the creator/developer of an online product or service, and your potential users. As such, UX can be divided into three main components: cognitive (how well their brain processes information), affective (how much their emotions are affected by what they see), and behavioral (what action they take).
In other words, UX refers to how well your website meets its purpose as perceived by its end users while they’re interacting with it—and if those interactions aren’t optimal or even satisfactory for them when compared to other websites in similar fields then chances are good that some aspect(s) of yours will need improving.
What is user experience?
User experience is the sum of all interactions that a user has with a website, product or service. It’s their physical and emotional reactions to each interaction.
There are 4 main components to UX:
- Usability – how easily can you use it?
- User Centered Design – did the designers put themselves in the shoes of their users?
- Empathy Maps – did they take time to understand why people visit their site, product or service and what do they want from it?
- Journey Mapping – does every step flow seamlessly from one action to another so there are no surprises for your visitors
Understanding how users interact with your site
Tell your web designer, it is their responsibility to understand how users interact with your site. This means understanding their intent and behavior (what they’re trying to accomplish), their goals and tasks (what they need to do), what their emotions are like when interacting with your site and why, what needs they have from you as a business and how you can meet those needs in a way that makes them happy. It also means taking into account their values—what you believe in as an organization or business—and matching those up with the things that matter most to them as users.
Understanding user expectations is another key part of this research process. As we said above, people expect websites in 2022 to be fast, easy-to-navigate and intuitively designed—so if yours doesn’t meet those expectations then users will quickly become frustrated by it.
5 elements of a good website in 2022
As a business owner, you may have heard about the importance of having a good website for your company. But what does that actually mean? What do you need on your site in order to be successful and stand out from the crowd? In this article, I’ll dive into five aspects of a website that work together to make it great.
Great Design
Of course, this is a bit of a non-starter if you don’t have anything to put on your website in the first place. So the next thing you need to do is ensure that you have some content.
It should be easy for users to navigate through your site and find what they need quickly and easily. If it takes too long for them to get where they want, people will leave and go somewhere else.
Designing graphics or images that are too small or blurry can make pages harder for users to read and understand, so make sure everything comes across clearly at all times so that everyone can enjoy reading it!
Fast Load Time
You may have heard that speed is the most important thing on the web. That’s because it is.
A page should load in less than three seconds or risk getting kicked out of the user’s brain. And if users can’t access your website, they’re not going to buy from you or sign up for your newsletter or download your app, which means no more business for you.
Even if a page loads quickly on desktop computers, it might not be fast enough for mobile devices like phones and tablets where users tend to have less bandwidth and shorter attention spans.
Mobile Friendly
As mobile internet usage continues to grow, it’s imperative that your website is mobile-friendly. Mobile friendly websites are easier to navigate and more attractive, which makes them more effective, profitable and engaging.
Easy to Navigate
When it comes to making a website, you need to make sure that the navigation is easy to use. The easiest way to do this is by making sure your website has a clear structure and hierarchy of information.
You can do this by using a consistent colour scheme and ensuring that your navigation is easy to find, as well as making it easy for users to understand where they are in the site, what section they’re on and how many sections there are in total.
Clear CTA
You want your website’s CTA to be clear, easy to find and click, easy to understand and use.
A good CTA is:
- Clear: The purpose of your landing page is crystal clear. You know what they’re supposed to do when they click on it. If you’re selling some kind of product or service, make sure the words “buy now” are right there in front of them when they land on the page.
- Big enough: Your call-to-action should be big enough that people can easily see it without having to squint or move their mouse around a lot (or both).
Understanding user intent
User intent is the key to making your website a success in 2022.
It’s all about understanding what your users are thinking, and meeting those needs. User intent is the key to doing that—it’s the idea of knowing what a user was trying to find when they typed their search terms into an online web search engine, which made them find your website.
Your content should be able to match up with what a user wants or needs when they come to your site. If you can do this, then users will feel like they’ve found exactly what they were looking for, and that they don’t need to keep searching—they’ll be satisfied with what they found on your website!
The first step in creating a good website is to identify your target audience and understand the needs of your target audience.
The next step is to understand the requirements of your target audience, which you can do by conducting user research and interviews.
Once you have identified them, it’s time to put that information into practice!
Here are 10 things to check when evaluating your website
Your website should reflect the value of your business and how you treat customers, just as your physical location should be clean and comfortable. If you’re neglecting one, you’re probably neglecting the other. To help avoid this, I’ve come up with 10 things to check when evaluating your website:
Does your website load quickly?
When it comes to page load time, the goal is to make sure your website is neither too heavy nor too slow. It’s also important that your site doesn’t appear overly complicated or simple.
If you have a lot of content, keep in mind that users may have trouble finding what they need when they arrive on your site. Make it easy for them: use clear navigation and an intuitive user experience (UX) that guides users through their journey without confusion and frustration.
Is your website secure?
When it comes to evaluating your website, one of the most important things to check is whether or not your site is secure. Asking yourself if you have a SSL certificate and if the site has been encrypted will tell you if your website follows best practices for security and privacy. Here are 10 questions you should ask about your website’s security:
- Does my site support HTTPS? This means that when someone visits a page that contains sensitive information (like credit card numbers), the entire page will be transmitted over an encrypted connection. If this isn’t set up properly, hackers can access any personal or financial information shared through their computer screens. You’ll want to make sure this feature is enabled on every page of your site!
- Do I have a security certificate installed? A security certificate gives users confidence in visiting a particular web address and protects them from potential attacks by hackers who attempt to steal valuable data such as login credentials or credit card numbers through phishing scams (email scams). Most browsers require this type of protection before they’ll allow users access to secure websites; therefore it’s important that yours does too!
Can visitors clearly see what you’re about?
You want your website to be a clear representation of what you do and who you are. This means that on the homepage, there needs to be a good balance between text and images. Images should be eye-catching without being too busy or distracting from the content, and they should also illustrate things that are relevant to your business (for example, if you’re running a pet shop, pictures of cute puppies). Your copy should be written in an engaging voice that conveys personality while still providing information on what type of person/business you are (for example “we love our customers” instead of simply “we sell pets”).
The homepage is also where potential customers will go first when they search for specific terms related to what they need; therefore it’s important that it ranks well in search results. You can use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs’ Site Audit tool which will analyze your site’s backlinks (the number), page speed loadtime metrics like bounce rate etc., HTML errors etc.)
Is your design appropriate for the type of business you have?
In addition to the layout and design, there are a few other factors you should consider:
- The color scheme. Colors convey different messages, so choose one that matches your business. If you sell luxury products, for example, consider using a warm palette like golds and browns; if you’re selling technology products for gamers or families, then choose cooler shades of purple or blue.
- The typography used on the site—the font style and size—should be appropriate for your business as well. For example, if you’re an agency specializing in high-end web design work for luxury clients with an upscale brand image (e.g., Chanel), then serif fonts will look more professional than sans serif ones; conversely, if you’re offering IT support services to small businesses (e.g., Staples), then sans serif fonts would work best here given their clean look and feel that is well suited towards mass appeal rather than elegance per se.’
Do you have a blog on your site that is being updated regularly?
You should have a blog on your website. Blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an authority in your field, share knowledge and interact with customers. It also helps to drive traffic to your website by giving people something they want and need (information) rather than just selling them something they don’t need (your product).
Is your contact information easy to find, and do you have multiple ways for people to contact you?
Make sure your contact information is easy to find. If people are looking for it, consider moving contact details higher on your site and into the header or footer so that it’s always available.
Also make sure that you have multiple ways for people to get in touch with you. This includes phone numbers, email addresses and social media links—and if possible, someone who can answer the phone 24/7.
Is the text on your site broken up into sections, and is it easy to read?
- Use headings and subheadings.
- Use bullet points.
- Use short, simple sentences and paragraphs that emphasize key points over lengthiness or wordiness.
- Use common words (rather than rarer ones) to make your text more user-friendly and friendly-sounding at the same time! Learn more about using common words in our article here: [link to post](https://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/common-words).
- Keep verbs active; use “use” rather than “is used,” etc., and try avoiding passive voice altogether if possible! Active voice tends to be clearer for readers because it’s direct; passive voice can seem vague or even confusing—you’re pretty much asking them what’s supposed to happen next when you do this?
Are the pictures on your site high-quality and relevant to what your business offers?
One of the quickest ways to determine the quality of a website is by looking at the images. The images on your site should be high-quality, relevant to what your business offers and in line with your overall theme. This means:
- Clear, in focus and not too busy. There’s nothing more distracting than trying to read text over an image that’s blurry or has poor contrast.
- High resolution (at least 300 dpi). Low-resolution images look grainy on screen, especially when enlarged or printed out.
- Relevant to content on the page. Images should be closely related to what you’re offering or discussing on that particular page; otherwise they will feel disconnected from the rest of your content and confuse visitors who are trying there first glance at them as irrelevant clutter rather than helpful context clues for understanding why these items were included here together within this section/category/etcetera etcetera eternally into infinity etcetera etc..
Does a visitor need to click endlessly to find something on your site or can they get around easily?
It doesn’t matter how great your services are, or how well you write if no one can find you. If visitors have to click endlessly to find something on your site, they’re likely to give up and go elsewhere.
Evaluate whether it’s easy for a visitor to get around on your site, whether they can easily find what they’re looking for without having to click through endless pages.
Are there reviews of your business available on each page, either next to products or in a review section of the site somewhere?
You might think that your business is great, but your customers don’t necessarily feel the same way. You can find out how they feel by reading reviews from other people on the web.
- Reviews are important because they help build trust between you and your customers. If a potential buyer sees that someone else has already bought from you and was happy with their experience, they’ll be more likely to buy something themselves.
- Reviews are also important for SEO (search engine optimization). Google uses review data when determining which websites appear in search results for certain keywords relevant to a business’s industry or niche market so it’s crucial for businesses to work hard at getting positive reviews up on their site as quickly as possible after launching an eCommerce site into the world wide web.
A website should reflect the value of a business.
A website should reflect the value of a business. If you’re selling lawn mowers, you don’t want a site that looks like it belongs to a travel agency or e-commerce site. It should also be easy to navigate and responsive on all devices.
A good web designer will make sure your website is secure so hackers can’t break into it and steal personal information from customers who visit your site. They’ll also ensure that everything loads quickly and looks great across mobile devices, making sure everyone has a smooth experience accessing whatever content they want on the go (which is especially important for those who want to get in touch with customer service).
Finally, make sure the content on your website is up-to-date—no last year’s fliers! If there were any highlights from this year’s World Series win, now would be an excellent time share them with potential clients who are looking for sports apparel stores in their area.”
If you’re ready to take the next step, our article might be just what you need to put your website on the right track. It’s a simple checklist of things that will help you feel confident that your site is doing its best for your business. Good luck on your journey!
Conclusion
Ultimately, your website design has one great purpose: to provide a good user experience. Without it, nothing else really matters. Your site will be hard to sell and generate little traffic. Think about the needs of your audience and make sure that your web design can deliver on those needs.
