Running a website or webpage involves several different factors. There is the overall look, the technological factors like hosting, and updating to make the page better. Yet, often overlooked in this web of analysis and trials is the actual user experience. That is to say, that in striving to get the fanciest or most aesthetically pleasing website—both of which are important—the user often gets lost in the fray of technological advancement.
Yet, it is the user or traffic on a page that matters. Chances are that when you created your page whether it is personal or for business, you had a goal in mind. You wanted to garner traffic of some type and on some level to visit your page. It is important, then, that these users are catered to and made to feel good when they come to your page. Yet the term user experience can be highly involved and takes into account several different factors.
The following outlines the basic definition of what user experience involves, why it matters, and why you should care. It helps to define the individual aspects that are taken into account when analyzing it in the real world and what you can expect if you have a user experience analysis completed on your page, the value of which is also expounded upon. Whether someone well versed in the technology field or new to the game, this article highlights why user experience has to be a high priority for your webpage.
What Is User Experience?
We have all been there at some point in life. We walk into a store or business and are greeted with less than ideal customer service. Maybe it is a poor attitude on the part of the employee. Maybe it is the way that the store is laid out. Maybe it is a poor product on the shelves. Regardless, the experience is bad and that is something that carries weight and can leave a bad impression.
On the contrary, there are times when we have all walked into a business and been highly impressed from the moment that we set foot inside. The decoration was beautiful and the people were great. They greeted us with respect and with an overall happy outlook on life that made us want to purchase from the store. This in itself created a good feeling and gave the business a positive reputation in our minds.
While this example focuses on a tangible storefront or business, it can be translated into our user experience online as well. User experience is important and it is something that needs to be evaluated regularly if you have a webpage or website. It can bring business in as quickly as it can push traffic out. Therefore, even if you have a very good product or popular service, not having a functioning and enjoyable website can cause a decline in your traffic.
What Are The Features
Though the term is coined user experience, it is not a single effort to make a page better. In fact, there are several different things to consider when creating a responsive and effective user experience for consumers. The following list is not all inconclusive for every website, however, it explains some of the top features that should be included in a test for user experience.
1. Useful Information
One of the most important parts of a successful user experience is the type of content that you are providing. Individuals that come to your site want to know that they are getting some level of value. They want to know that your page is providing them something and need to be aware of that initially, or they will leave as quickly as they came. This can be done in several different ways but the main way that usefulness is communicated is through the content that you place on your page.
Content should be interesting and bring value on some level. It needs to tell the user something and needs to outline to them in no uncertain terms what you want from their visit to your page. This does not have to be rude or exclamatory but it needs to tell them what you expect from them.
You will also want to make sure that you get the most from your content by providing information that is going to add value to the user’s life. That is to say that you do not want stale or old and outdated information. It needs to be relevant to what the user is interested in or what your target traffic is. That is important in that it can greatly increase the user’s feelings about your page and drive further traffic to the page.
2. Credibility
The credibility of an organization, business, or individual is often determined by what they see online. A webpage sends a message about the individuals and organization from the moment that user clicks onto the link. With that said, you want to appear credible to your user in the content, images, and information that you provide them. Credibility may not make the user experience any easier as far as navigation purposes, but it increases the value that they take away from your page. Therefore, do not skimp on the credible information that you provide them, with the understanding that you do not want to elevate content to the point that it is unreadable or complicated in the jargon used. There needs to be credible but understandable information on a page for the user experience to increase.
3. Able to be Found
If you are doing a marketing campaign or other effort to drive individuals to your site, you need to ensure that they get what they want from the process. They do not want to have to go looking for what you promised them. Going on a wild goose chase for this information can be highly frustrating and may cause them to leave the site altogether. Therefore, you need to do your best to make the materials on your site easily findable.
How to achieve this aspect of user friendliness is up to you and your overall webpage aesthetics. It may be through easily found tabs of information or it may be through bold words on the homepage. Regardless, you need to send the message to your user’s that you are there for them and you are making the page as easy to find the pertinent information as possible.
4. Workable Links
In today’s technologically driven world, there are several features on webpages that are making it easier to navigate away from a page’s internet page to other sites, such as social media initiatives. This is great and this is something that user’s tend to respond to. The problem lies, however, when finding these links is not possible. Make sure that you are using your webpage in such a way that these different features are easily found and are responsive to a user’s goals.
You also want to ensure that these are functioning links. There is no greater way to frustrate and potentially lose a user than through the poor use of links. If you are going to have individual’s leave your page for something beneficial, do not fail them by having an unworkable or unusable link.
5. Color Schemes
Colors are an important part of a webpage. They can greatly impact a user’s experience. If your page is too bright for example, it can offend the user’s eyes and leave them quickly navigating away. In the same way, if it is too monochromatic, words can get lost and the look can become very much graphically off. You need to really spend time looking at your user friendliness in this way and make sure that the colors and hues chosen are not offensive in any way. If you go too crazy, you are likely to lose the viewer altogether as they move on to something new. Pay attention, then, to your color scheme and what it says about you.
6. The Text
Contrast is another important thing to evaluate, especially when you use a lot of text on your page. You want to make sure that your graphics and your placement of text have differentiated colors so that the words really pop off of the page. Blending in is not something to strive for when you are creating a page and you need to look at the colors both on the backend—if you are developing the colors and schematic yourself—as well as how it appears on the computer in real life. There can be great differential.
You will also want to make sure that the text that you use is the appropriate font. If you utilize too big of a font, it can come off obtrusive and too bold. This can be very offensive to the eye just as colors can be. Yet, if you use too small of a font, it can be just as hard to find what you are looking for and it can become too frustrating to even try. For that reason, test your text and make sure that you have the most efficient and clear look for your site.
A final note on the user experience and the text you use to use, remember that the style matters. Certain styles are too difficult to read and the words become jumbled or confused on the page. In much the same way, picking an amateur font can be equally as harsh and cause issues. Therefore, choose a font that says what you want to say and is easy to use. Try it before you go live with your page in simulation or in a test market. What comes across on the backend, again, can be very different when looking through a different lens.
7. Mobile Friendliness
There are many different options when it comes to your webpage and what it will be displayed upon. This is something to consider when you are creating your website. You want to make sure that it displays correctly across all devices and not just some of them. This is important because it allows you to ensure that your page’s content is not lost in the transition from device to device.
In today’s mobile world, this is especially important and webpages often lack this level of oversight. The transition can be very difficult from device to device and can lead to content being lost when it is displayed. The result is a page that is less than navigable on other devices away from the computer. This can greatly hinder a user experience.
8. Traffic Behavior
Not only do you want to analyze the user experience on your page for understanding of how easily it is to use. You will also want to know how your traffic behaves and their particular experience on the site. This is as much a part of the user experience and tells you about the site’s success as any other element or unit of analysis can bring you. Be sure that you look at this as part of your overall experience research, too.
9. How To Figure It Out
Now that you know that your page needs to be user friendly, you may wonder how you can actually test this. If you are well versed in the area of technologies or not, having a third party complete a user experience analysis can be very helpful in understanding your webpage. Therefore, consider finding an agency that can help in this way.
Third party teams that have a background in this type of analysis can help you to look at your page objectively and test the success it has with actually consumers or web traffic. They can analyze how the page is perceived and what the traffic is doing when it comes to your site. Such a user experience analysis can help you to make a plan going forward and help you to correct the problems that exist. Therefore, consider a third party analysis as an investment in the future success of your webpage and an investment in your customer retention, too. The ROI is sure to be worth it!
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