5 of the most common signs your site is providing a bad user experience.
With so many businesses both small and large that set up websites to take advantage of online sales, one of the most overlooked aspects of success on the internet is the user experience. In other words, there is too much effort in getting a website online and not enough to evaluate the site to see if it provides the best experience possible for your potential customers.
So what is a bad user experience? You are probably familiar with having bad experiences when accessing a website. The term generally means that those who visit websites have a less than ideal experience in terms of how fast the website downloads to their device, understanding and accessing all the data, and finding where to go in order to complete a sale, download information, or perform some other desired task.
Successful companies focus heavily on providing the best user experience possible. This is true even if they do not use the latest in web building software or update their site frequently to catch more potential visitors. Companies that do best on the web spend most of their time identifying potential issues and improving their sites to ensure the best possible user experience for everyone.
Poor Website Speed
If there is one complaint that stands out from the rest, it is slow downloading speed. Nothing turns away visitors faster than having to wait for your website to load. What makes it worse is that the slow download speed actually hurts your business brand. After all, if it takes forever to download your website, why should anyone think you have something good to offer?
There are ways to check your website speed to ensure that it loads on all devices in less than two seconds. That is the minimum download speed that you want for your site. If it is taking longer, identify the files that are slowing it down and reduce or eliminate them.
Overly Complicated Design
In other words, navigating your website is a real chore. Think about all the effort you put into bringing potential customers to your site, only to have them leave because they cannot figure out how to find the items they want, how to pay for them, or discover important information. An overly complicated design means that you confuse more than you clarify.
As you are building your website, focus on creating a simple, easy to follow design. You’ll need to get that right first before you start advertising it to the world. Let others visit your site to see if they can find particular items or information and find the checkout to pay for them.
In addition, keeping your design simple and attractive invites potential customers to explore your website even further. This may lead to more sales and better interaction which keeps them coming back time and time again. If you have a overly complicated website design, then identify the areas that need to be simplified and address them accordingly.
Lack of Clarity
This is related to an overly complicated design and poor navigation but is different in the sense that your site may be fine in those regards. However, the purpose of your site is just not that clear. In other words, the content, products, and overall design of the site do not fit together that well.
Successful small online business owners have laser-focused sites that are extremely clear in their purpose. This means that they focus on one topic, provide content directly related to that topic, and gear their web design to ensure that the topic in question is easily understood. Spreading your website out to cover additional topics can be counterproductive and contributes to the lack of clarity. So, if something does not fit directly into your niche, it should not be on your site.
Not Responsive
Although responsive web designs have become more commonplace, many website owners are still using standard designs. In other words, your website may look great on a computer or laptop screen, but not so good on a smartphone or tablet screen. This is why so many business owners have multiple websites to address users no matter their devices.
A responsive website design means that no matter the size of the screen in which your website is being viewed, it will adjust accordingly. If you are still using a website program that is not responsive, you should make the switch as soon as possible. Handling multiple websites is inefficient and probably costing you more than it is worth.
Annoying Popups
Although popup ads are not quite as intrusive as they used to be, they are still quite annoying. Yet for many website owners, the revenue generated by popups may be considerable. This means that you may not be able to avoid popups, but there are ways to mitigate their annoying effects to potential customers.
- Follow Google Best Practices for Popup Ads
- Find Alternate Ways of Generating Income
- Focus on Delivering Great Content & Boosting Your Web Ranking
Basically, you’ll want to minimise popup ads as much as possible. This means to avoid getting on Google’s bad side you will want to follow all recommended practices when it comes to your site. Plus, you should consider other, less intrusive means of generating money such as affiliate marketing, paid sponsorship, or selling your own products.
If you focus on building your audience, you’ll find that the higher your website ranks, the easier it is to rely on alternate forms of income that may reduce, if not eliminate popup ads from your site.
No website is perfect, but you can do a great deal to minimise and eliminate the signs that your site is providing a bad user experience. Make it a habit to check your site regularly and pretend that you are just visiting it for the first time. Plus, have friends or family members navigate your site as well, so they can point out issues that you might have missed. The better you make the user experience, the more money your site can generate.