3 Tips To Optimize Your Website Design with the User in Mind [Contributed Blog]

March 7, 2019 - 5 minutes read - Contributed Posts, Website Design

Creating a website design that not only impresses users but convinces them to make a purchase, is no easy feat. Too often the main focus on website design is on the aesthetics of the pages. While the design is certainly important, what’s more, important is the user experience.

Things like delays, website performance, and confusing navigation are enough to send users running towards the hills. Or, more accurately, running towards your competition. We all know how frustrating it is to click through a website that doesn’t feel like it’s built for real-life humans. A startling 94% of online users reportedly stopped trusting websites with outdated, unusable web design. Here are 3 tips to optimize your website design with the user in mind.

1. Optimize Your Website Speed

First, you need a website that’s built to work fast. Even a second or two delays in your load time will cause your visitors to quickly click away. Roughly 25% of users will abandon a page after simply 4 seconds of delay, and this percentage only increases on mobile.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to increase your website speed that won’t drain your design budget. Your first step should be to check your hosting. Some hosting plans particularly shared plans, are prone to performance problems when you experience spikes in traffic. Since the goal of having a business website is to attract more traffic, you can’t afford any disruptions in your performance or speed due to your hosting plan.

Finally, after you’ve addressed any potential problems with your hosting plan, it’s time to look into smaller ways to improve your speed. For example, compressing gzip improves your site´s speed with GZIP compression. Things like image compression and minimizing your HTTP requests will have a big impact on your website speed.

2. Mobile-Friendly Design

In this day and age, we’re all attached to our smartphones more than ever before. These smartphones have gone from just a small part of our lives to one of the major ways we make purchases and discover new businesses. Yet, many business websites still aren’t mobile-friendly.

Of today’s consumers, 60% of people agree they won’t recommend a business that has a poorly designed mobile website. That means your mobile optimization needs to be at the forefront of your user-centered web design. Test your website today with the Google Chrome Developer Tools to see if your website is fit for devices of all sizes.

3. Optimize Your Navigation

Users will quickly click away from your website if they can’t easily find what they’re looking for. This means you need to be aware of your most popular pages, your customer’s primary needs, and how to better meet these demands quickly. For example, you might list your products in an easy to find location if you know your customers are quickly looking for their favorite goods.

Another part of navigation is making it easy to contact your business. When customers have questions, they need them answered quickly or else they’re likely to move on without making a purchase or taking action. Including a contact button or chatbot integration on every page is key in both mobile and desktop designs.

4. Create a User-Focused Website

Too many websites nowadays feel built for computers. Your users are real people who value their time and quality design. If your website doesn’t live up to their expectations, there’s nothing keeping them from clicking away to the competition.

These 3 tips above might sound simple, but they’ll make a world of a difference as far as your customers are concerned. It’s time to make a positive change for your website that’s fit for the 21st century.

Ashley Lipman is a super-connector who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.

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Tags: business website, mobile website, website design, website speed