User Experience  —  Web Design

Why is User Experience in Website Design important for business growth?

Jump into why User Experience (UX) is so important for business growth – and how it goes beyond the confines of a website and into the overall customer experience.

Nick Marden
Nick MardenMay 18, 2023

If you’re a business owner, you probably already have a website. But is it providing a great user experience (UX) for your customers? A website that’s designed with UX in mind can have a significant impact on your business growth. Here’s why:

Improved User Experience Leads to Higher Conversions

A website that’s optimised for UX is designed to meet the needs of its visitors. By understanding how users interact with your website, you can make informed decisions that can lead to higher conversions.

Better UX design can increase conversions by up to 400%

Forrester

A well-designed website can help users find what they’re looking for faster and make it easier for them to take the desired action, whether that’s making a purchase, filling out a form, or contacting you for more information.

Understand Your Users’ Behaviour

To create a great user experience, you need to understand your target audience. One key thing to always remember – You are not your customer, so take the time to research and analyse their behaviour online.  How do they interact with similar websites, what are they looking for, and what do they expect? Use this information to inform your design decisions and create a website that meets your users’ needs and expectations.

Website heatmap & recording tools, like Hotjar, are very useful for monitoring the interactions of your users. 

Optimising Website Speed and Performance for a Better UX

Let’s say that a customer visits a website looking for a specific product or service. However, the website takes a long time to load, with each page taking several seconds to fully render. The customer becomes frustrated with the slow speed and decides to leave the website before making a purchase or taking any other action. 

Speed and performance are crucial factors in providing a great user experience. A slow website can lead to a high bounce rate, which can negatively impact your business growth. Ensure that your website is optimised for speed and performance, ensuring that your users have a fast, seamless experience.

Tracking your website speed & performance using tools like GTMetrix, will help give you the insights you need to improve.

Positive User Experience Boosts Customer Satisfaction

Providing a great UX not only leads to higher conversions but also boosts customer satisfaction. When your website is easy to use and navigate, your customers are more likely to return and recommend your brand to others. A satisfied customer is more likely to become a loyal customer, and a loyal customer is more likely to become a brand advocate.

Creating a User-Centered Design that Meets Customer Needs

A user-centered design is key to building trust and credibility with your users. By putting your users first and designing a website that meets their needs, you can establish your brand as trustworthy and credible. Consider the user journey and ensure that the website is easy to navigate and intuitive to use.

A top tip here – speak to your customers, find out what they need and what they are looking for, this can then be directly addressed within the web design.

Improving Navigation and Accessibility for Better User Experience (UX)

Navigation and accessibility are two critical components of a great user experience. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate and accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Use clear and concise labels, organise content logically, and provide alternative text for images to improve accessibility.

We recommend always questioning your navigation and the items contained therein – ask ‘is this critical to the user journey and does it need to be here?’ and ‘what is the best location for this menu item?’. You’ll often find that customers are looking for a few critical items – and these should be present in your primary navigation, but other items that aren’t as important can be placed on a secondary navigation, in the footer, or linked off directly from another page.

User Experience is Key to Building Brand Loyalty

Building brand loyalty is essential for long-term business growth. A website that provides a great user experience can help you achieve that. By fostering emotional connections and building trust with your users, you can turn them into loyal customers who come back to your brand again and again.

Building Trust and Credibility with User-Centered Design

A website designed with user-centered design principles can help build trust and credibility with your users. By putting the user first and designing a website that meets their needs, you can establish your brand as trustworthy and credible. Here are some tips to achieve this:

  • Conduct user research to understand your users’ needs and preferences
  • Simplify the navigation to make it easy for users to find what they need
  • Use clear and concise language to convey your message
  • Ensure your website is mobile-responsive to accommodate users on all devices
  • Provide a fast and seamless user experience to instill confidence in your brand

Fostering Emotional Connections through a Memorable UX

Creating a memorable user experience is key to fostering emotional connections with your users. By designing a website that is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to use, you can establish an emotional connection with your users. Here are some tips to achieve this:

  • Use design elements that reflect your brand values and personality
  • Incorporate storytelling into your website to make it more engaging
  • Create a consistent visual language throughout your website
  • Use high-quality images and videos to enhance the user experience
  • If it is in-line with your brand, add interactive elements such as quizzes, games, or polls to create a fun and memorable experience

Put it into action

Creating a great user experience for your website is essential for business growth. By understanding your users’ behaviour, focusing on user-centered design, fostering emotional connections, optimising website speed and performance, and improving navigation and accessibility, you can provide a positive user experience for all. Follow these tips to create a website that meets your users’ needs and expectations, and watch your business grow. With the help of our expert team at Strong Digital, your website can provide a top-notch user experience that drives business growth.