There are a few factors that tend to hold major importance for your digital marketing efforts, and one that speaks to web and page design is user experience, abbreviated UX. The way users navigate and otherwise experience your site and its various pages often plays a huge role in how they feel about your brand and whether they become a customer, and there are several important concepts to be thinking about here.
At BWP Communications, web design is one of several top digital marketing services we offer to clients around Salt Lake City – and user experience is a huge part of this field. Here\’s a primer on why UX is so vital in web design and internet marketing in general, plus some of the concepts to be thinking about while applying it.
Why User Experience Matters
There are several reasons why UX is a top factor in digital marketing and web design. First, when users experience an enjoyable and intuitive navigation process, they’re more likely to stay on your site longer – meaning there’s a much better chance of them becoming customers or interacting with your brand in some other way.
Second, good UX contributes to the overall perception of your brand by showing users that you care about their experience and are offering high-quality solutions. Third, good UX can help with search engine optimization (SEO) since it makes it easier for Google’s web crawlers to find your site and rank it accordingly in the SERPs.
When striving for quality UX, there are several areas to be considering – which we’ll look at in our subsequent sections.
General Focus on Clarity and Simplicity
For the vast majority of website visitors, the simpler and clearer your web design, the better. If it’s too complex for them to understand or if they don’t know where to go, it’s likely that they won\’t remain on your site for long.
That\’s why many UX designers focus on keeping things streamlined and easy-to-follow when crafting their designs – and that’s something to strive for in your own web design efforts as well. This includes things such as keeping menus short, avoiding long forms, and making sure visitors can find what they need in as few clicks or taps as possible.
Know Your Audience
User experience is not the same across all industries, or even all websites within the same industry. It\’s important to know your audience and what they’re expecting from their visit to your site.
For instance, a website for local businesses needs to have different UX than one for an e-commerce store, as local business owners will be looking for more direct contact information while customers of an e-commerce store will be looking for an easy checkout process. Knowing your target audience and what they\’re expecting can help you come up with the best UX design.
Visual Highlights
As you’re designing your website, you should also be using visuals to help guide users through it. Images, videos, and other visual aids can draw a user’s attention to the parts of the page that are the most important – including calls-to-action like buttons or links.
This is especially useful for mobile devices since people will often not want to read too much text on their phones, and visuals can help users get to the information they need quickly.
Accessibility at Every Turn
No matter which page a visitor lands on, they should be able to find the information they need quickly and easily. That’s why it’s important for your entire site to have good accessibility – meaning that users can access each page from any other page with as few clicks or taps as possible.
This also helps keep people engaged and makes it easier for them to find what they’re looking for, and it can also help with SEO since web crawlers will be able to easily index the pages.
Analyzing User Data
Once your website is up and running, you should regularly analyze user data to see how people are interacting with it. This includes tracking things such as page views, click-through rates, time spent on each page, and more.
By looking at this data, you can see what’s working – and what isn\’t – so that you can make adjustments as needed to improve the overall user experience.
Overall, UX plays a major role in digital marketing and web design efforts. By keeping these important concepts in mind, you can create a website that engages users and provides them with the best experience possible. Good UX will help increase conversions as well as establish your brand in the minds of potential customers.
At BWP Communications, we understand the importance of user experience and can help you design a website that meets the needs of your target audience. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you optimize your web design for maximum UX, or about any of our online or print marketing services for clients around SLC.