9 Tips to improve website user experience (UX)

Previously, we looked at what UX is and what it isn’t as well as the importance of improving UX, we are now going to provide you with a few easy tips for improving your user experience.

1. Call-to-actions
2. Efficient space usage
3. Content layout
4. Website speed
5. Colour Use
6. Consistency
7. Visuals
8. Chatbox
9. Conversion rate optimisation

1. Clear call-to-actions

A call-to-action (CTA) tells the user what action you want them to take, “Sign up for this newsletter to discover more!”, it tells you what action to take and why. Ask yourself these questions when looking through your website:

• Check the position of CTAs, does it make sense to have the CTA there?
• Is your CTA clear and understandable or do users have to guess what action you want them to take?
• Is your CTA appealing and catchy, while fitting in with your brand identity, or does it leave users feeling flat and unimpressed?

2. Use space efficiently

Using the space within your website efficiently can make a huge impact on how users initially perceive your site. Ask yourself:

• Is there a good balance between the amount of copy, visuals and space on the page?
• Is important information supplied from the beginning and is it in the right place?

3. Separate content into bite-size chunks

While this may seem similar to space, content-heavy pages may require separation. Users are not going to read essays – ain’t nobody got time for that! Ask yourself:

• Are you making use of headings to divide content into smaller sections?
• Can some of your content be listed in bullet points rather than an entire paragraph?
• Are there other ways to display text-heavy information? Can you make use of graphics, audio or video?

4. Improve your website speed

As we previously noted in the importance of improving UX, most users navigate away from a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Ask yourself:

• Is my content unnecessarily heavy?
• Is my website responsive?
• Is my website mobile friendly?
• Are my website images optimised and relevant?
• Do I have a search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy?

5. Consider your colour use

Consider the colours that you use on your website. Colours are often associated with and trigger emotional reactions. Consider the following about your website colour scheme;

• What possible emotions could be evoked from the current colours?
• Are these in line what we want users to feel?
• Are the colour combinations complementary to each other?
• Do the colours represent the product or service correctly?
• Do the colours match the industry?

6. Ensure consistency throughout your website

Consistency in design and content promotes easy brand identification as well as provides a quality user experience. Look at the following factors when analysing the consistency of your website;

• Are your headings and fonts consistent across all your pages?
• Is your website heading and font size the same across all your pages? Pay particular attention to your header tags.
• Are your font types the same and do varying fonts complement each other?
• Is the style of graphics consistent and do they match your brand personality?
• Are the button styles the same across all pages?
• Is your website tone consistent in terms of language use, is it industry-specific, does it contain too much jargon?

7. Make use of visuals

We process visuals more quickly and easily than text and a picture is worth more than a thousand words. When checking your website visuals, consider whether;

• The style of visuals are in line with company branding guidelines?
• Are your visuals authentic? Users are looking for real interactions, the days of clean photoshopped images are out and being real, daring and bold is in!
• Is there a more creative way in which we could appeal to our audience? With so many other websites in the world offering the same product or service as you, it’s vital to find a way to stand out from the crowd and attract your audience.

8. Personalise with a chatbox

Users want to connect with brands quickly and easily, so why make them search for you?

Adding a chatbox is an effective way to let users know that you are there for immediate assistance if they need it. By adding a photo and a name, it makes the experience more personal for the user.

9. Implement conversion rate optimisation

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is the process of increasing traffic to a website that converts users into customers or drives them to take the desired action on a website. CRO aims to ensure that the conversion experience on your website is seamless for users. How do we improve the conversion rate of our website?

• The first step is to measure the conversion rate of your website to identify where users drop off in their purchase journey.
• Go through the process of a user on your website and identify any potential snags, or better yet, ask a friend or family member who is not familiar with your site to give it a try and provide feedback.
• Use A/B split testing to try out different techniques that may drive conversions.

We hope that these tips help your website to drive conversions through stellar user experiences. If you want to dive deeper into user experience, read our next blog listing the 10 metrics you can use to track user engagement.

We have extensive experience in user experience optimisation, if you require assistance with improving your website UX, get in touch.