When it comes to marketing your website and offering the best user experience possible to visitors, it is important that you know what website users like and dislike. Drawing website users to your site is all about providing more of what website users want to see and less of what they don’t. After all, a high bounce rate can be a very scary thing and the key to attracting and keeping visitors on your website is user experience. So what should you be doing to provide a better user experience to website visitors?
Today, Charley Grey will be offering you five things website users want you to know. It can be easy to fill our website with elements that we enjoy but these elements may not be as appreciated by website users. By following the guidelines highlighted in this article, you can ensure that your website checks off all of the boxes in terms of user experience, improving your bounce rate and boosting website traffic.
5 Things Your Website Users Want You to Know
1. Load Time is Everything
The number one most important thing that website users want you to know is that the load speed of your website is everything. According to a report from KISSmetrics, 47 percent of consumers expect a website to load up in two seconds or less. 40 percent of users are a bit more lenient, but not by much, saying that they will abandon a website that takes 3 seconds or longer to load.
With the chaos of everyday life, our attention spans are shorter than ever. Your website users have things to do and if your website is unable to give them the information they are looking for quickly, they are sure to abandon your website. Before you can pull in loyal customers and improve your audience engagement rate, you have to earn their attention.
If your website doesn’t load in the expected time, you can’t expect website users to stick around. Slow loading time is frustrating and it is your responsibility to ensure your website is speedy. This will go a long way in offering a better user experience to website users.
2. Mobile Optimization is Important
As highlighted in our recent blog post, The Importance of Mobile-Friendly Websites, website users can be quickly turned away from a website that isn’t optimized for mobile devices. In an age where more people use their mobile devices to surf the web as opposed to desktop devices, website users want you to know that your website has to be optimized for mobile. In fact, 50 percent of online traffic now comes from mobile devices or apps. If your website isn’t optimized to offer a great user experience for mobile users, you are potentially missing out on reaching half of your target audience.
If you have ever found yourself scrolling side to side to read website copy on a site or have had to zoom in and out to read content, you understand the frustration of dealing with a website that hasn’t been optimized for mobile devices. Don’t push this same poor user experience on your potential customers! Take the necessary measures to optimize your website for mobile devices!
3. Easy User Navigation is a Must
When a website user lands on your site, it should be immediately evident where that user should click to get the information that they seek. Websites that lack clear navigation standards offer a poor user experience for users. There are a variety of ways that you can simplify website navigation for visitors and this will go a long way in reducing your bounce rate.
Ensure that your website features clear, concise headline copy, a visible call-to-action, and easy-to-use navigation controls. Your website design should be attractive, simple, and professional and be easy to view and scroll through while remaining pleasing to the eye. Offering easy user navigation to website users is a matter of both technical and design-based efforts. Need help designing a website that boosts the user experience? Contact Charley Grey for that impress!
4. Pop-Ups Are Annoying
Pop-ups, when used excessively, will quickly frustrate and annoy your website visitors. Pop-ups can be considered excessive when they distract the user from reading your site’s content or navigating with ease. While pop-ups can be a valuable marketing tool when used tastefully, there is a fine line between an appropriate use of pop-ups and a bad one.
Don’t get us wrong, there is a right way to use pop-ups. That being said, you have to know how to implement pop-ups successfully. Take care to use them in moderation so that they aren’t bombarding your visitors with information that doesn’t interest them. Track the effectiveness of any pop-ups currently in use on your website to see if they’re performing well. If you see a negative impact on your bounce rate or a small amount of submissions gained through its use, you should probably consider editing or removing that pop-up entirely. This is sure to lead to a better user experience for your website visitors.
5. A Way to Contact You
The final thing that website users want you to know is that a lack of a clear way to contact you can make all the difference between a conversion and abandonment. Let’s make something clear right off the bat: a simple contact form is not enough to offer a good user experience. Aside from being generic, a contact form offers no indication of whether or not the contact wants to receive ongoing communication from you.
For one-time requests, there is no harm in offering a “Contact Us” form. Contact forms should only be used as a direct means of contact between you and your customers. Keep in mind, however, that many customers who want to contact you will want a response as quickly as possible, and this isn’t something that a generic contact form assures them of.
Offer multiple, clearly visible ways for potential clients to contact you, including email, phone, or even social media links. This will go a long way in not only raising your rate of conversion but also in offering a better user experience for your website users.
Meet the Expectations of Your Website Users With Charley Grey!
Now that you know what your website users expect, it’s time to take the necessary actions to meet those expectations! Charley Grey is Indiana’s top website design and management company and is here to assist you with all of your needs. With our help, you can offer an unrivaled user experience to web visitors and earn a higher rate of conversions. Contact us today to get started!