Do you know what is the user experience and how to improve the UX of your website or eCommerce? When we create an Online project, one of the factors that we must take into account is how users feel when browsing our site, and this is precisely what we are going to learn to optimize with this article.
This is not a factor that we can measure accurately since there is no way to quantify “how our users feel” when they enter our pages. However, there is a way to quantify in an estimative way how was the experience of your visitors, so that later we can improve it to the best of our ability.
In this article, I want to talk to you about precisely this topic: you will learn what user experience really is, its importance within a digital project and how to improve it. Believe me, this is a very important aspect and little considered in general by Internet professionals. Let’s start!
What is the user experience?
The user experience, which comes from the term «User Experience or UX», is the set of elements and factors related to the interaction of a person with a device or environment, from which a positive or negative perception of that tool, service, product or environment.
At first glance, it sounds like a somewhat abstract concept, and the truth is that it is. The UX is something more related to the emotional, since, in a certain way, each person can live different experiences of the same situation. This also happens on the Internet: what is good for some, perhaps not for others.
The truth is that, when managing and analyzing a website, this is a very important factor to take into account, especially if it is an eCommerce or online business since the sale carries a great emotional charge. But, considering that it is a somewhat ambiguous term, we ask ourselves:
How is it possible to quantify that perception to know if we are doing well or not on our website?
The short answer is that it is not possible to quantify it. But, on the contrary, we can take into account several aspects that together give us an idea of the user experience that your audience takes from your website. It will be precisely what we will talk about from now on.
However, having clarified the definition of this concept, we must also make some extra considerations in order not to get into future confusion:
Are usability and user experience the same?
These are details to keep in mind, which, on more than one occasion, lead to errors of interpretation among people who train in digital marketing and even among many professionals in this sector.
In short, something can give us a very good user experience, even if it is very difficult to use. Or, conversely, be very easy to use, but provide us with a disastrous experience after using it.
What is the use of improving the User Experience in a Web project?
Perhaps you are wondering why it is advisable to improve this factor in a digital project. Here we have several reasons:
1) Helps decrease bounce rate
If you offer a better UX to your audience, they will be less likely to leave your Web or Blog.
Conversely, it is evident that they will stay longer in your business if the experience is satisfactory and you offer them incentives that make them stay.
2) Promote your SEO Positioning
Although it does not do it directly, the experience you give your audience affects the SEO of your site, either negatively or positively.
An example of this is precisely the bounce rate since if it is high it can negatively affect your organic positioning.
As you can see, in the end, all the paths lead to the improvement or worsening of the UX.
3) It is an opportunity to build customer loyalty
Who doesn’t like to shop where they feel comfortable? Well, of course, everyone.
And precisely following this same logic, it is easy to recognize that better user experience is able to retain more customers, since people will feel much more comfortable buying or browsing your website, and will want to return.
4) It can help you make a sale
Many of the people who do not finalize a purchase on the Internet, do so because of a bad experience, whether it is a very cumbersome purchase process, problems with the loading speed of the Web, or a shopping cart that does not work as it should.
If you offer a good User Experience on your pages, you will have more opportunities to make your sales.
There are many more reasons, but I think that with this you have enough reasons to start working on improving the UX of your digital project.
How to improve the User Experience and what factors to take into account on your website or eCommerce?
There are several determining factors that we can take into account. In general, we can see each of these factors as a part of a whole, this being the experience we give to our audience.
Some of the aspects that we must take into account are:
These that I have mentioned are only some factors, perhaps the most important, but there are many more that we can take into account, even something as simple as having a shopping cart always accessible can improve the UX of some people.
Individually, there are many methods to improve each of these points that I have mentioned. By doing so, you will be improving the user experience, since, as I have said, each factor is part of a whole, which influences in a direct way.
While we are here, allow me to give you some advice that may be useful to you.
»Don’t overstate your audience
Whether it is in appearance, advertising, or even some functionality of your page, oversaturating is not a good option.
There is a saying that applies very well here, ” everything in excess is bad “; And indeed, abusing certain aspects can be somewhat annoying for users, and counterproductive.
Who doesn’t mind when a bunch of pop-ups invades our screen while we are browsing a web?
Surely you too, the same thing happens when we see a lot of advertising on a website, to the point where we cannot differentiate what is advertising and what is not.
The same thing happens with colors, although we would all love for our site to look great, the reality is that abusing the colors we use can oversaturate the page, turning it into a carnival.
Try to keep a color palette as simple as possible, that is harmonious, and that uses contrasting colors to highlight important areas of your website.
»Make navigation as natural and simple as possible
This is a very important factor to take care of if you want to offer a good user experience. Surely it also happens to you that when you are browsing a page and you do not get what you want, you get frustrated and choose to go look for it somewhere else.
The same will happen to your audience. If it becomes annoying or impractical to navigate your site, or if they do not get what they need easily, they will be much more likely to choose to leave your website.
To improve this, I recommend that you opt for a much more intuitive interface, with menus that offer access to all the content on your website without having to go around a lot.
Likewise, if it is an eCommerce, there are many professional templates that make navigability much more enjoyable and easy, in addition to features such as an always visible shopping cart.
The easier it is for your audience to navigate and find the content of interest, the better it will be for you and for the user experience of your page.
Also, don’t forget about “ Breadcrumbs ”, an effective way to keep your users always aware of where they are on your website, where they have come from, and how they can return to where they were before.
»Use heat maps and other research tools
In order to know the exact behavior of the user within your page, you can help yourself with digital tools that can tell you exactly how your visitors behave.
So that you can even know in detail why areas of your website move the mouse and where exactly they click.
In this way, having an idea of which areas they frequent the most, which ones are misleading because they think that the element in question was clickable and really is not, and thus a host of other cases that could make you improve.
An example is the “Yandex Metrica” tool, a comprehensive analytics platform, which allows you to use these features that I propose and some additional ones for free, once you register on their official site.
This also allows you to record complete video sessions of up to a certain duration, where you can see the exact behavior of a certain user on your website, from the moment they enter until they finally decide to leave it.
»Keep the purchase, subscription or registration processes simple
Going back a bit to not saturate, I have encountered more than one situation in which I have had to give up buying, registering, or simply subscribing, because the process seemed slow and very long.
It’s okay to get as much information as possible from your customers and users, but if we force them to go through a slow process when buying, subscribing, or registering, they will likely end up leaving without completing it.
There are many ways to simplify these processes, and there are even CMS plugins that allow you to create quick and simple registration or subscription forms, such as the typical “ One Page Checkout ”, which allows your audience to buy almost instantly.
»Search intention
Remember that, currently, when doing keyword analysis, it is very important to recognize what is the intention behind the searches that users make.
»The content is very important, don’t forget
No matter how good your webpage is, if the content isn’t at a standard level, your audience will have no choice but to search elsewhere.
This is why you must take care of the content that you upload to your website, that is of quality and, above all, that is relevant to your target audience and, more specifically, to the target that you are interested in reaching.
»Copywriting of your website also matters
Many times we do not give the necessary importance to the “ copies ” that we use on our site, and no, it is not just about the texts of our posts or content, but the entire domain as a whole.
From the titles and subtitles to the menus and widgets that we attach. Each of these fulfills a function, and the text we use is also a fundamental part of them.
For example, a call to action with poor text rarely succeeds, whereas if you use an appealing one that captures the attention and interest of your audience, it will be much easier for you to get leads.
To know what copies or texts you can use on your website, first, you have to know your audience very well, what is your target audience and even have a Buyer Persona.
Since the effectiveness of a text to attracting a person’s attention and interest will depend greatly on the person and external factors, such as the person’s culture or demographic information.
What symptoms could tell us if the User Experience of our website is good?
One of the most difficult things that exist on the Internet is to measure with great accuracy the degree of satisfaction of a person when using a digital site or tool. When talking about SEO optimization, this is a drawback that Google also has.
For this reason, when we talk about analyzing the UX of our website, blog or eCommerce, we also refer to the need to study different factors (or KPIs) that can give us some signs of how the experience that our users may be having at visit us.
Conclusion
These are just some tips that I give you, there is much more you can work on, always keep in mind the main factors that influence the user experience, and you will have a guide to follow on how you can improve it on your website.
As I always say, the user is the King and the center of all digital strategy. Therefore, keep this in mind when optimizing every detail of your Internet business.
Did you know what user experience is and its importance within an Online strategy?
Tell me what you think about this article and what other factors would you add to improve the UX, I’ll wait for your response!
