Your website is one of the most powerful tools for your business. With that said, it’s important that you prioritize your website’s user experience (UX). In this post, you’ll find various valuable web design tips for creating visually appealing websites that keep visitors engaged with your business on the Internet.
Improve site structure (information architecture)
The Information Architecture (IA) is the organization of a website or application and determines whether users can successfully complete tasks, like placing an online order or contacting a small business directly. Your IA should make it easy for users to find what they are looking for and act upon it quickly.
Some indicators of a good UX include:
- Grouping similar content together versus spreading it out
- Labeling and organizing your website menu in a clear and organized way
- Keeping visual hierarchy in mind when formatting your content
Design for all screen resolutions, browsers, and devices
How a website displays on a screen can be quite different across different screen resolutions. Make sure that your website design works across different screen resolutions so all visitors see a visually appealing site.
Likewise, a website can display different across different browsers. Test your website to make sure it looks the same in all common browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer.
Don’t forget to optimize your site for mobile so users can get a quality experience no matter what device they are using.
Optimize load time
You should also make sure your website’s load time is within an acceptable range so users can quickly access your site to find what they need.
To optimize your load time, you should:
- Minimize graphics, flash and scripts
- Condense JavaScript and CSS code
- Ensure your site doesn’t have any unwanted tags or unused scripts
- Use Server Side Include (SSI) files whenever possible
Create web pages that are easy to scan
The average user spends very little time on a web page. Instead of reading through all content, they scan looking for titles and emphasized text. Make sure that your pages are easy to scan so you can maintain your visitors’ interest.
Focus on the website user’s needs
If a site’s content doesn’t fit a user’s needs and goals, they are unlikely to stick around. To design and layout a website that is truly user-centric, small business owners must understand their audience.
To understand your audience, you should review your website analytics, invest in market research tools and customer surveys, and even chat with your customers to get their feedback. From there, you can make decisions on how to improve your overall UX. Every visitor approaches a website differently, so make sure to consider each persona when you are designing your website.
Test early and often
As you work on website improvements, make sure to prioritize testing so you can understand how your efforts are performing and make data-driven decisions. Make sure to continue testing and optimize accordingly as your website grows.
We hope these tips will help you improve your UX and keep up with changing habits of users. Make sure to revisit these tips often and pivot your strategy when needed.
