As Internet speeds improve and more businesses focus on creating a seamless user experience (UX), visitors don’t only appreciate good UX as if it were a bonus to doing business with you — they expect it. A user-friendly website ensures that each visitor to your website has an easy, effortless, and pleasant experience. Here, we will highlight the importance of creating a user-friendly website filled with insightful and high-quality information.
1. 88% Of Visitors Will Not Return to a Website That Isn’t User-Friendly
Do you have a low return visitor rate in Google Analytics? Your user experience could be to blame. Users (visitors or potential customers) vote with their feet regarding bad UX.
They don’t want to do business with you badly enough to put up with a poor online presence. Users will simply take their business elsewhere. A seamless, user-friendly experience should be easy. People can find what they’re looking for and will come back to the website.
2. Bad UX Causes 70% Of Online Business Failure
When businesses fail, researchers often look for the causes to understand what companies can do better to succeed with customers and thrive. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar with an online presence or an eCommerce business, chances are you will not survive with a poor user experience.
3. 53% Of Visitors Leave if a Page Takes Over 3 Seconds to Load
This includes mobile devices. People online are now accustomed to almost instant page loading. If your website takes several seconds to load, you’re losing people.
This can be especially detrimental when running paid search ads on Google Ads or a similar advertising platform. You pay for that click even if the clicker backs out before your page loads. At the same time, your Ad Quality Score will go down. This increases how much you pay per click until search advertising becomes very cost-prohibitive.
The good news? When you improve your load time and overall UX, people will spend more time on your site and complete activities that meet your key performance indicators (KPIs). In addition, customer acquisition costs will go down as more ad clicks result in goal completion.
4. A User-Friendly Website Can Increase Profits
The average return on investment (ROI) on improving your UX is between $2 to $100 for every $1 you spend on UX. Obviously, that’s quite a range. There are certainly other factors that make or break your revenues and profit margins, such as search engine optimization (SEO), marketing, product development, quality control, and customer service.
But the bottom line is this: when all else is equal, a user-friendly website is a more profitable website.
5. Generate More Quality Leads
A user-friendly website encourages people to stay on your site, explore it, and learn more about you. This activity can generate a lead through a click funnel and a lead generation form. It also begins nurturing that lead online as they find helpful content that guides them through the buyer’s journey.
6. Improve Visibility In Search Engines
There are potentially dozens of factors to consider when creating a better UX. But UX is also an essential element of SEO. When used in conjunction with other SEO strategies, improving user experience will help you become more visible in Google and other search results. This means more “free” and higher quality traffic. This traffic is high quality because people are choosing to come to your site.
7. Increase Conversion Rate
A user-friendly website has intuitive navigation and a clear call to action (CTA). When a stranger arrives on your website, they instantly know they’re in the right place. All of this adds up to an easier and more consistent conversion path with higher conversion rate potential.
Tips for Making a More User-Friendly Website
User experience is more than a fast or easy-to-navigate website. It’s a look and feel that your target audience appreciates and responds to. Here are some quick tips to achieve these kinds of benefits of a user-friendly site:
- Research the competition. See what’s working in your industry and understand what your customers expect.
- Keep your design simple and responsive. Give each page a clear purpose and place in your click funnel.
- Make elements visually distinct. Action buttons should stand out. Accentuate the most important info on the page, so it’s the first thing they see.
- Create visual and functional consistency. Choose colors, shapes, fonts, and images that define your brand and various elements to make navigating your site intuitive.
- Don’t be afraid of empty space. Empty space, also called “white space,” on a landing page gives your visitors room to breathe and allows them to stay focused on what’s important.
- Monitor how users are responding to your website. You should continually work to improve the experience. Perform A/B testing and track your website data in tools like Google Analytics. Monitor for 404 Page Not Found Errors and other experience destroyers.
- Know the signs of a poor UX. Indicators like high bounce rate, low return visit rate, poor conversion rate, poor ad performance, and trouble ranking in the search results despite publishing helpful content can all suggest that your UX needs some work.
- Invest in engaging, helpful content. This is everything from blog posts, videos, visuals, interactives, and more.
- Don’t annoy people. If you use pop-ups, make sure they don’t detract from the experience. They should further it instead! Avoid background music, video autoplay, or too many ads.
- Make your site searchable once people are on it. Your site visitors should be able to search for products or services with ease.
Bottom Line
Building a more user-friendly website can significantly improve your website and business performance. Today’s customers don’t put up with a mediocre experience. They want a site that is fast, instantly understandable, and helpful. Create this kind of experience to delight every visitor and achieve business goals.