When you first started your business, it might have seemed like a no-brainer to get your website up and running as quickly as possible. But, while getting your brand out there is important for growth, so is ensuring that your website fits the needs of your audience. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses unintentionally overlook this, failing to focus on two fundamental areas of their websites – the UX (user experience). In this article, we explain why getting it right is so important.
What are UX and CX?
User Experience (UX) relates to the emotional reactions and experiences your customers might have when interacting with your business. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that the design of your website leaves a positive impression on its users. According to Usability.gov, great UX means that information on your website is:
- Usable – relevant and fills a need
- Findable – easily located and navigable
- Useful – functions are easy to use
- Desirable – design and images evoke positive emotions about your brand
- Accessible – people of all abilities can interact with your website
- Credible – current, accurate and true
Customer Experience (CX) refers to the overall experience that your customer has with your business – from first hearing about it, all the way to becoming a repeat customer. To have a great CX, the UX of your website needs to be down pat. Why? Let’s think about it from your customer’s perspective. Imagine this:
- You’ve discovered a great product that you’re ready to buy
- You visit the website do to so
- You browse the website
- You can’t find the item you’re looking for
- You get frustrated
- You leave the website.
If the UX on your website doesn’t help your customer find what they’re looking for, you could ultimately lose potential sales or leads. The main aim is to make it intuitive, which means that features and information on your pages add value to your customer. This takes research and empathy and it’s precisely why more businesses are commissioning UX designers to work on their websites.
Planning your UX
Planning your website UX requires mapping out exactly how you want your customer to feel on every page, at every touch point. It helps you:
- Understand your users more clearly – which will help you understand how to fulfil their unique needs better
- Save money – a great site will last longer and won’t require an upgrade for a while
- Make sales – intuitive sites make it easy for people to engage with your business
- Get organised – when you know what people are looking for, you can deliver better content, in the right places, in the right tone, with the right messaging.
When undertaking a UX planning session for your website, think of the following questions:
- What will your website would be used for?
- Who’s your target user and how will they be using your website?
- How do you compare with your online competitors?
From there, you’ll know how to design a website that adds value to your customers – and makes it easy for them to interact with your business.
Looking for professional web designers who are experts in UX best practice? Give Redline Digital a call – we’d love to run a UX planning session to understand your audience and your business – creating a solution that suits you both.