words Al Woods
In today’s world, your website is likely to be the first interaction a customer will have with your brand. Therefore, a user’s experience of your website can define the type of relationship you have with a customer.
It is often the deciding factor on whether a visitor converts and becomes a loyal and returning customer or never returns to your brand again. With so much at stake, improving the user experience on your business website is vital for any online store’s long-term success.
What Is User Experience?
Before getting into the most effective methods to use to improve user experience on your website, it is first necessary to define what user experience is. The term user experience describes the journey that a user takes when they interact with your brand. When used in the context of your website, user experience describes how interacting with the technology and aesthetic design of your site makes a user feel. User experience is more than just the impression that a site has on the user but how the interaction with a site defines the relationship between the brand and the user.
When user experience is completed expertly, it will define the entire interaction a user has with a brand. The experience of actually completing a purchase will be so seamless that a user will not have to think twice before buying a product. Successful user experience builds a strong relationship between a brand and a user and motivates purchases and returning sales. Poor user experience, on the other hand, will eradicate any potential for building a relationship with a customer, sending a user into the open arms of your competition.
Now that you understand a little bit more about what user experience is and why it is so important, it is time to focus on how you can improve your user experience.
Use Responsive Website Design
If you look back as little as five years ago, you will notice a big difference in the way that the majority of people accessed the internet; namely, they would do so on a PC or laptop. Consumer habits have changed a great deal, with over 53% of internet users now using their mobile phones to access the internet. With mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and even smartwatches all being used to search the web, your site needs to be optimized for a range of screen sizes.
Switching to a responsive website design means that you are ready to offer all potential customers a high level of user experience. Websites that are not optimized might function extremely well on a desktop computer, but when a user tries to access the site from their mobile, the experience is very different. With pages taking a long time to load, text being difficult to read, the overall functionality is drastically reduced. Having a responsive website design is the best way to ensure a high user experience regardless of the device being used.
Offer Additional Features
A great way to improve the user experience on your site is to move beyond the standard by offering additional features. Some additional features you might want to offer to improve user experience include:
- A find your fit interactive size solution tool
This makes it easier for users to find their ideal clothing size in your store. The interactive nature improves perceptions of your store and increases the user experience with a sense of high-tech novelty. Adopting an intuitive size advisor will also ensure your customers buy items from your store that fit perfectly, which will lower the need for returns and boost customer loyalty.
- A live chat feature
Offering a live chat tool improves the user experience as a user is able to find the answers they need right away. Again, like the find your fit tool, this seemingly high-tech feature works to improve a customer’s perceptions of your site.
Intuitive Website Design
Intuitive website design is essential for a high-quality user experience. As the name suggests, intuitive website design is all about creating a site that just makes sense. A visitor using a website that has an intuitive design will not have to think about making their way through the site. Everything from the search feature to the page progression will just make sense, so much so that a user does not have to think about their direct interaction with the site. This means that a user is not distracted by the direct interaction with your website’s interface and they can focus on the features that define your brand image and their perceptions.
When it comes to creating intuitive website design, it helps to focus on the functionality and navigability of your website. You should also review all of the customer data and time on site statistics. Pay close attention to when a user clicks off your site to discover parts of your site that are not functioning as successfully as others.
