The website is the face of your company. It’s where people learn about what you do, make an appointment, or buy something. However, if it isn’t easy for people to find exactly what they want and navigate through the site, then it defeats its purpose.
Have you ever abandoned a website because it was inconvenient to navigate? Perhaps you were unable to locate the page you were searching for. Or maybe their navigation menu lacked what you needed. Perhaps there were an excessive number of pop-ups and ads. You didn’t put up with a complicated website, regardless of if it contained what you knew you wanted. The same may be said for your website. Your website will never prosper if it is not user-friendly. That is why, in 2021, website usability must be a key focus. Bounce rate, click-through rate, and (ultimately) your bottom line are all affected by a bad user experience. If a person is dissatisfied with a website, they will simply go to another website that meets their requirements. After a poor encounter, 88 percent of internet visitors are reluctant to return to a website. However, adhering to website usability best practices can boost your conversion rates by encouraging users to stay longer and respond to your calls to action and other offers. Unfortunately, most website owners are unaware that their website is not user-friendly. No one would make things difficult for their consumers on purpose. However, we often get so used to the websites that we overlook anything wrong with them. It may also occur if we do not deliberate to ensure that our website is valuable and accessible to a wide range of users. That is the source of my motivation for creating this tutorial. I’d want to offer you the best practices for making your site user-friendly in 2021. Follow along and make sure your website follows these guidelines.
What to Do If Your Website Isn’t User-Friendly
The eight recommended practices for making your website as user-friendly and accessible as feasible are listed below:
In addition, mobile devices should be optimized.
Although this should go without saying, I still find myself arriving on websites that have not been optimized for mobile users. It’s incredible since mobile devices are used by 92 percent of all Internet users.
Those mobile users aren’t simply surfing; they’re also purchasing from their smartphones. Indeed, by 2021, mobile commerce is projected to grow by 22.3 percent, or $3.56 trillion.
It’s also not enough to concentrate only on domestic audiences. If you don’t explore outside of your country, you may be losing a lot of money. In China, for example, mobile devices account for approximately 75% of all ecommerce purchases. As a result, the first thing you should do is ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. Even after that, there are still things you can do to enhance the usability of your website for mobile visitors. And there are many options for making your website mobile-friendly. The fastest method, for example, is to utilize a responsive theme for your website. These themes will scale your content to fit various screen sizes (see below).
When using a desktop computer to browse, it’s simple to click almost anywhere on the screen. There’s nothing wrong with placing your CTA or other clickable elements in a corner on a desktop. However, on mobile devices, 75 percent of users browse and click with their thumbs, while 49 percent click with only one hand. Consider that for a moment. How frequently do you use one hand to browse on your phone, particularly when walking or doing anything else? This graphic shows better locations on the screen to interact with one hand. People on your mobile website will be frustrated if you have buttons in those red zones. It’s unsettling for them to attempt to reach the corners, and they may accidentally click on something else.
Furthermore, it will be inconvenient for them to go to the incorrect page, since it will add stages to their procedure. As a result, just because your website passes a mobile-friendly test doesn’t imply it’s completely optimized for the user experience. Your layout must still be efficient and straightforward to browse with only one hand. The NYT app is an excellent illustration of this. As you scroll down, notice how all of the essential components are centered and within easy reach of your thumb.
Follow the WCAG guidelines.
The web content accessibility standards (WCAG) were developed to help websites fulfill the requirements of disabled people. The WCAG is updated regularly, so it’s essential to check back often to see what’s new (the next update was due in 2021). Approximately 1.2 billion individuals worldwide have some kind of impairment. Of course, you don’t want to discourage or discriminate against your website’s visitors. Everyone has the right to have a good time.
Here are some of the many types of impairments that may influence how individuals interact with websites:
- Auditory- Auditory impairments range from minor hearing loss to total deafness. If you want to include movies, music, or other sound-related material on your website, be sure your design allows for them. All video material, for example, should consist of subtitles. Make sure captions are visible for long enough for visitors to read and comprehend the content.
- Cognitive- Mental impairments and neurological disorders such as Alzehimer’s disease and dementia may be present in people with cognitive disabilities. As a result, these people may have trouble remembering information or concentrating on a job for extended periods. Therefore, you should make your website as simple as possible to suit them. Don’t cram your navigation menu with too many choices, for example. Web usability expert Steve Krug said, “Don’t make me think!” should be a fundamental guideline. This is true in this case.
- Physical- Physical limitations limit a person’s capacity to move. This may include their capacity to walk, utilize their limbs, or have complete bodily control. It also covers those who have had limbs amputated. Users should be able to navigate your website as little as feasible. For example, don’t make people browse forever to get to a page they need. Make sure the navigation buttons are also easily accessible.
- Speech- Stuttering to muteness is all example of speech impairments. As a result, applications like voice command will be challenging, if not impossible, for these people to utilize. Therefore, ensure that any software on your website that needs a voice function also caters to individuals who cannot talk. You might, for example, provide a field where customers may put in what they need.
- Visual- Color blindness affects about 300 million individuals worldwide. That isn’t to say that they just see in black and white. It simply implies that they process colors differently. Make sure your website doesn’t have any clashing colors that individuals with vision problems won’t be able to see. On your website, stay away from alternate color backdrops and flashing lights. People with light sensitivity may have seizures as a result of these factors.
To fulfill its online accessibility requirements, the WCAC has four key concepts.
You’ll fulfill those criteria if your website is perceivable, operational, intelligible, and resilient for as many users as feasible.
Stick to the standard design components.
It may be tempting to be imaginative while building a website. Perhaps your brand’s image requires innovation, or you just want to try something new. However, creativity is more suited to aspects such as marketing than it is to overall design and functioning. There’s a reason why these best practices have stood the test of time. So keep your creativity for your goods and marketing efforts. It’s to your best advantage to adopt standard web design best practices for usability. When people visit a website, they have certain expectations. Allow me to illustrate my argument with an analogy. What do you expect when you go into a fast-food restaurant like McDonald’s? You wait in line, place your order at the cashier, and when your meal is ready, they call your number. That’s a widespread occurrence. But what if you went into a McDonald’s and were seated at a table by an employee? They presented you with menus and inquired what you would like to drink. Then, five minutes later, they returned to collect your order, simulating a formal dining experience. That’s hardly the kind of service you’d expect from a McDonald’s. You’re looking for quick service and quick meals. Although this is a novel and innovative technique, it interrupts the consumers’ flow by adversely undermining their expectations for the encounter. It detracts from their pleasure in the process. Apply the same principle to your website now. If you attempt to reinvent the wheel, your guests will have a wrong time since they are accustomed to things being done in a particular manner.
These are the most common features individuals anticipate when visiting a website, according to one study:
- At the top of the screen, there is a logo.
- Contact information is located in the upper right corner of the screen.
- The primary menu navigation in the header at the top of each page is horizontal.
- In addition, the title has a search bar.
- Finally, in the footer, there are social media icons to follow.
Following these best practices is in your best interests. For example, place your menu vertically on the right side of the screen, and don’t place the search bar in the footer. This will simply lead to confusion among your visitors. However, there are certain places where you may be a bit more inventive. This contains your logo, CTA designs, and header graphics, among other things.
Here’s a great example from our Crazy Egg pals.
This heat map was created by looking at where QuickSprout visitors clicked the most. Take note of how this page adheres to the best standards for navigational components and content placement. That’s because it follows a standard visual hierarchy, which leads us to…
Establish a visual hierarchy.
A person’s eyes arrive on a page region that will trigger their initial impression in 2.6 seconds. This is something that occurs unintentionally. What does this imply for the usability of your website? First, you must make it simple for your visitors to comprehend what they see. Consider arriving at a website with 20 pictures on the main page. Where do you begin your search? From our friends in the Old Line State, here’s an excellent example of poor design:
It’s disorganized, overpowering, and pulls your attention in so many places that you’re not sure where to concentrate. This is not a pleasant experience for the user. Create a visual hierarchy to display visitors the essential parts of your website instead. This entails positioning the page’s most critical components (such as pictures and CTAs).
Here’s an illustration. Consider the four circles below and rate them in order of significance.
Even if you have no idea what these circles symbolize or what they mean, you know blue is the most significant, followed by green. This is how a visual hierarchy appears. The user experience is harmed if the essential information on your site that will provide value to the visitor is positioned as the yellow circle. People may go to the incorrect page or concentrate on irrelevant website components if there is no visual structure. You don’t want it to happen.
You should address these considerations while creating your visual hierarchy for website usability.
- Size. The bigger, the better.
- Color. The visitor’s attention will be drawn to the bright hues.
- Contrast. Colors may be used to highlight (or de-emphasize) certain aspects of your website.
- Negative space is a term used to describe a space that is. You should value the spaces you don’t utilize just as much as those you use.
- Alignment. When visitors arrive at a web page, they usually read in an F pattern from top to bottom and left to right.
Keep these considerations in mind while creating a basic, clean design. This will improve the user experience for your visitors while also improving their chances of completing objectives such as subscribing to a newsletter or buying a product.
Navigation should be made more accessible.
The essential element of usability, particularly for ecommerce companies, is the ease of navigation. Simplifying your navigational components results in a cleaner design and aids in the conversion of visitors to landing pages. For example, what’s the best way for a user to go from the homepage to the checkout page? How much time does it take? How many clicks are they need to complete?
These are all aspects that must be taken into account. Take a look at the top ten reasons why people leave their shopping carts.
As you can see, navigation is one of the top three causes of cart abandonment. The only thing that rated higher was the price. Though encouraging consumers to sign up for an account is essential to your overall company plan, you should discover a more straightforward, user-friendly method to do it. Even if a website isn’t selling goods on an ecommerce platform, it should prioritize easy navigation. Assume you have a primary blog. What is the best way for people to go from your site to your blog? How do you arrange your blog posts? Is it possible for them to look for a particular post? All of these have something to do with navigation. This category also includes clickable material. It must be evident whether the content on your site is clickable and leads to another landing page. Make it clear which pictures, text, and other elements may be clicked. Change the text’s color, underline it, or make it a button. People would struggle to know where to click if this is not done.
Establish trustworthiness.
People will not like using your website if they believe it is untrustworthy. Therefore, it’s critical to build credibility straight immediately. Visitors will feel uncomfortable traveling if this is not done. Make your material, pricing, and contact information as transparent as possible. Don’t have visitors scour your whole website for such items. When visitors arrive at a homepage, they expect to see the following.
With these figures in mind, how do you think a website’s reputation would be affected if the homepage lacked product information, contact information, or an About Us page? It’s going to be a downer. Each product’s price should be plainly stated next to it. It is not ideal for the user’s experience if they click or go to another page to see pricing. There are exceptions to this rule. Prices for SaaS platforms and other service providers, for example, may vary. Having a separate price page with clear labels can assist in these situations. This is mainly a workaround for providing significant discounts that they cannot publicize due to a contractual agreement with the manufacturer. Making security features (HTTPS/SSL, badges, etc.) plain and visible also helps to build trust. Your visitors will feel at ease after you’ve established a reputation on your website. They won’t have to worry about being conned or clicking on a malicious link. This increases their chances of interacting with and converting on your material.
Make sure that your material is readable.
Just because a typeface might look great on your next tattoo doesn’t imply it’s appropriate for your website. People will leave if they can’t read the content on your website. Please do not use the Papyrus or Jokerman typefaces in your fifth-grade PowerPoint presentation. Instead, check out some of the most acceptable font combinations for 2021. Even if you choose a font, it doesn’t guarantee that your text is readable. You should also consider your color scheme, paragraph length, kerning, and spacing. Let’s suppose you choose a basic font, such as the one I’m using right now for this blog post. It’s easily readable, but not if the writing is yellow and set against an orange backdrop. People don’t read everything in a book word for word. Consider that for a moment. When browsing a website, you’re probably simply looking for the information that matters most to you. The same will be valid for your reader. As a result, your material must be easily scannable. Right now, you may be skimming over this blog article. That’s why I use short paragraphs and a lot of headers, pictures, and bullet points in my writing. It would be difficult to read each part if it were simply one large text block. Making it readable and scannable, on the other hand, enhances the user experience.
Consistency is key.
From page to page, your website must be consistent. It will be highly confusing if you constantly change your themes and layouts. Let’s take a look at this Lululemon product page as an example.
All of these components may be seen on product pages:
- Images of products on the left
- The name of the product appears in the upper right corner.
- Price is shown underneath the product name.
- Right-hand description
- Color options are shown below the description.
- On the bottom right, there’s an add to cart button.
This is all pretty basic and uncomplicated. There isn’t anything wrong with this design. Assume you’re perusing this website, and you come upon this page. Maybe you put the item in your shopping basket; perhaps you don’t. In any case, you decide to look at a few more things. You’ll be perplexed if you browse another product page and it doesn’t appear exactly like this one. On each page, all of these components must be consistent.
Conclusion
The usability of your website may make or break its success. Visitors that had a negative experience are unlikely to return.
That’s why you’ll want to remember the most suitable website usability principles. These will assist you in creating a website that will not only be more accessible to more people but will also help you achieve your sales objectives and generate leads:
- Optimization for mobile devices. Keep your website’s components within reach of the thumb.
- Accessibility of a website. Make sure that more people can read and access your website.
- Design components that are often used. New visitors will find it easier to browse your website if it has a familiar look.
- There is a visual hierarchy. Keeps your visitors’ attention on the essential aspects of your website.
- Navigation is simple. Make sure all navigation buttons are purposeful and lead your readers in the correct direction.
- Credibility. For each of your pages, meet the expectations of your readers.
- Content that is readable and scannable. Don’t overwhelm your reader with the material they won’t read.
- From page to page, there is consistency. Maintain a unified style, layout, and color scheme throughout the website.
Use this tutorial as a guide to putting these components on your website. Once you’ve done so, you’ll reap the benefits of pleased website visitors who will convert and return in the future.
Related Tags
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