How Important Is the User Experience for Website Success?

How Important Is the User Experience for Website Success?

When an Internet user visits a website, there are a certain number of ‘givens’ that they take for granted. The website should load quickly, the text should be easily readable, and the images should be clear. Ideally, visitors would be able to easily find what they are looking for.

As soon as one of these components falls through, users become frustrated, develop a poor opinion of the brand and leave the website.

What elements impact the user experience?

Almost anything that involves using, reading or navigating a website contributes towards the user experience. Users do not expect to need a certificate in Information Technology to be able to buy a book or item of clothing online; those browsing the web expect to be able to see what they want and obtain it within minutes.

In terms of entertainment websites or smartphone apps, the user experience can often include how pleasing and engaging the app is. In general, however, it is about a basic level of expectation: the website or application should work properly.

Most important factors:

When it comes to the basics, some factors are more important than others. A website should be easy to use, it should help you find what you are looking for through effective navigation and signposting and the content should be engaging and relevant.

• Ease of use

Usability should prioritise a website being easy to consume and navigate. Text should not be too small; images should not be crowded or confusing; and links must not be broken in any way.

If you sell online, professionals in e-commerce development, such as at magecloud.agency, will ensure that your website is optimised for visitor satisfaction as well as improving your sales.

• Findable products

Navigation through headers, contents pages, search bars, links and buttons is essential for making products findable. For any visitor to your website, finding what they are looking for quickly is of paramount importance to them; they might be in a rush or running out of data and will not want to be clicking around on your website for long.

• Engaging content

Visitors to your website feel they have a right to be presented with interesting content. If you have an excellent social media page and somebody has clicked through to your website only to find it is boring, they will leave and likely never return. They have had a bad user experience and immediately formed an opinion on your brand.

What the consumers say

Consumers vote with their feet – or fingers. Optimising your website for mobile use caters to the 74% of people who say they are likely to return to a company that has taken the time to do so. Filling your website with pop-up adverts also puts users off; 420 million people around the world have an ad blocker installed, with bad user experiences the most cited reason behind this level of uptake. Finally, 46% of online shoppers say the main reason they leave a website is because they can’t tell what the company does.

If it wasn’t clear enough: the user experience is incredibly important. Be clear, be engaging, be successful.