Today’s consumers are a far cry from the first internet users. They are tech-smart, fast-paced, and accustomed to having their digital needs instantly met. The internet is steadily infiltrating every aspect of our lives and is now a crucial part of many (if not most) interactions, everything from getting your news to staying in contact with friends. What do all of these online interactions have in common? The quality of the individual’s online experience has a huge impact.
Introducing UX
A crucial part of the online experience is the ease with which a person can find, use and interact with an online platform. If you’re a business wanting to access a piece of the proverbial online pie, you need to be taking user experience (UX) into account, not just for your ability to thrive, but to survive.
When you think about it, it’s obvious. If you go to a site that takes ages to load, is difficult to navigate, and doesn’t work seamlessly you’re not just unlikely to return, you’re unlikely to complete your transaction. So why doesn’t every brand take this into account? Research shows that only 55% of brands are doing UX testing, compared to the 74% of users who say that they will return to a website if it is optimized.
An optimized user experience journey is a user-friendly site that features simple, seamless navigation, dynamic and digestible content, great customer support, and mobile device compatibility. By combining these aspects of UX, you’re one step closer to having a brand and site that stands apart from your competition.
Mobile User Experience
You might be tempted to relegate mobile compatibility to the ‘do it later’ file of your website development process, but that would be a mistake. With exponential growth in media consumption, desktop computers are becoming the lesser-used method to view websites. Mobile users are significantly more likely to abandon a website if it isn’t correctly optimized for their phone—and if you’re running a business, this could mean a major loss in conversions, or even damage to your brand’s reputation. 60% of searches are now performed on mobile devices, and more than half of users have indicated that a bad mobile experience will make them less likely to interact with the brand.
A balanced multi-platform strategy is essential to a successful buyer’s journey. Despite this, many marketers and brands still treat the desktop as their main area of focus, which is out of sync with today’s consumer behavior.
User Experience is More Than Just Usability
Confusion and clutter are the failure of design, not the attributes of information. This rings true to UX as a whole, and when you’re trying to stand out from the crowd online, one of the best ways to do so is by being clear, concise, and accessible to your target audience. While usability is an essential component of the user experience, it is only one piece of the overall pie as it focuses on things at surface level, while UX digs deeper into whether an individual page or piece of content will satisfy the specific needs of a user. As an entity, user experience determines how a brand speaks to its customers and delivers the message it is trying to convey, effectively.
Content, content, content
One of the best ways to convey a message to your audience is by publishing content that is engaging while offering direct value. Well-crafted digital copy that is optimized for search engines is a key ingredient to a good user experience. Not only will this help your web page to rank well for relevant search terms on Google, but SEO-Friendly copy will also give the consumer an informative answer to a question or query in an instant. This approach will ultimately result in conversions rather than website abandonment. While it may seem obvious for online businesses to provide search optimized, engaging, and consumer-focused content, it is often overlooked —don’t make the same mistake.
UX is not an optional luxury for competitive businesses. To give user experience the attention it deserves, time, money, and resources must be invested, which also means acquiring the skills required to ensure success.
If you want to chat about your UX needs, get in touch with one of our digital marketing consultants.
