When was the last time you viewed your website as one of your visitors?

Sure, you probably look at your website constantly, but how often do you go page by page and experience your site from the mindset of a consumer?

There may be overlooked or hidden issues that disrupt how your customers engage with your website. Analyzing the user journey may uncover why your website isn’t converting like it should.

Test your website frequently to help improve content, uncover site errors and develop an engaging user-experience that drives action.

Related Article: Why User Experience Is the Best ROI Strategy

Why User-Experience Matters

How your visitors experience your website directly ties to brand perception and conversion rates. According to a recent report on Why Web Performance Matters, 88 percent of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. By developing a seamless and easy-to-use platform for users to engage, you can develop stronger relationships and move users through the consumer lifecycle with greater ease.

User-Experience (UX) helps define how users perceive your brand and define its value. From the moment a user enters your site they begin to form opinions based on design, content, accessibility and the fluidity of your website as they explore or search. It is important to leverage these elements to develop your branding and position in the minds of consumers.

A consistent experience across devices, browsers and third party platforms like social media can define your value and encourage users to stay engaged. Additionally, a clear and fluid website can eliminate user drop-off and help drive conversions. Bad UX can create barriers to engagement that create frustration for users as they look to find answers or take action on your site.

What To Look For

Often, marketers get jaded and miss obvious problems with UX because they experience the website too frequently without a user perspective. It is important to explore your website from the mindset of your different target audience segments.

You may find that different content and design elements will be better suited for some groups over others, that your brand positioning is unclear, or that your website flow is disrupted by confusing navigation or accessibility issues.

To ensure your website conveys the right messaging and encourages engagement for users, take the time to actively explore your website from the view of individual audience segments.

Common Problems Associated With Bad UX

• Broken links & 404 pages
• Missing “thank you” pages to track conversions
• Lacking contact information/options
• Inconsistent experience across browsers
• Inconsistent branding across third party platforms
• Lacking responsive design
• Excess or vague content that doesn’t offer value
• Boring or outdated content
• Overly sales-focused content
• Inferior imagery (low quality, stock photos, lacking value)
• Confusing navigation
• Design complexity
• Slow site speed
• Barriers to engagement (registrations, limited views, too many options)

Related Article: Put Your Best Digital Marketing Foot Forward

Best Practice Checklist

User-experience doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Marketers should focus on defining the steps that users need to go through to accomplish desired outcomes on their websites. Once these are defined, they should ask people outside their company to complete these tasks and document the results.

The following questions will help ensure your user-experience strategy is focused on the right elements. We recommend you review this list before creating your strategy, so you can align your goals and after you have implemented changes to certify that you’ve created a platform that will drive results. To stay relevant, it is a best practice to reevaluate your user-experience every few months as your brand grows, audience behaviors shift and industry trends evolve.

Related Article: 10 Interview Questions to Ask a UX Designer

The Content

• What is the purpose and goal of your website?
• Is the message consistent and clear?
• Are your Calls-To-Action descriptive?
• What can user see above the fold?
• Is your content laid out to be engaging on each page?
• Do design features enhance your content? Could you improve?

The User

• Do you know what your users want from your website?
• Would a user know what you do in the first 5 seconds of being on your page?
• Is your website designed for your ideal clients or your actual users?
• Where do users come from?
• What landing pages do visitors see?
• What content do visitors engage with most?
• How do users interact with your site?
• Do you help guide your users through your website?

 The Usability

• Is your website responsive?
• Does your website stay consistent across browsers?
• Did you think about accessibility?
• Is your site speed holding back user engagement?

Conclusion

Crafting a valuable user-experience takes time and dedication. By understanding how users within different target audience segments behave and engage, brands can develop personalized interactions that generate results.

Monitor your website from an experience point of view with users in mind to uncover your obstacles and opportunities. Frequent evaluations of your strategy, audience behaviors and industry trends can keep your brand competitive and engaging.