When working with a design agency to create your business site it’s easy to fall into the trap of putting too much emphasis on the way you and your organisation want to website to operate. Your main consideration at every stage of the design and build process should be the user experience. Boosting SEO and telling your brand’s story might seem like two of the top priorities but if your users can’t easily navigate the site and find the information they need, they’re going to click elsewhere – straight to a competitor’s site.
Here are a few quick fire ways you can improve the customer experience on your WordPress site:
Rethink Your Blog Content
The blog is often one of the most visited sections on a website and it’s one of the places where you can really let your brand’s personality shine and connect with both existing and potential customers.
There have been numerous studies carried out about user reading habits when it comes to blogs and a landmark Nielsen study confirmed that over 75% of users scan blog posts rather than reading them word by word. To use these findings to your advantage, make your blog posts easy to read and digest. Try using shorter paragraphs, bullet point lists, sub headings and attractive images so the content is simple and entertaining to consume, whether your users are using a desktop or mobile device.
Scale Back Your Design
This is something your design agency will be able to advise you on but it’s also worth considering this when you brief them about your desired design elements.
There are so many design trends that promise to boost customer engagement and add value to your site that it’s tempting to incorporate them all into your design. However, this ‘kitchen sink’ approach can quickly lead to a cluttered site that’s slow to load and impossible to navigate.
Some of the key things to bear in mind when brainstorming ideas for your design include:
- Fast loading times
- Simple navigation
- Easy to access contact information
Consider the Little Things
These are the things that are easily forgotten but can be extremely frustrating to users. These notorious pet peeves might not seem like a big deal but can cause on the fence customers to run for the hills.
Open links in a new tab: Particularly important if you utilise a lot of internal and external linking
Keep your background clean: A bright yellow background with red font might seem like a boundary-pushing idea but keeping backgrounds crisp, clear and minimalist is classic for a reason
Link your logo to the home page: It makes navigation so much simpler
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If you’re thinking about rebuilding or designing your website and would like to speak to our team of WordPress experts for a quote then you can reach us via our Contact page.
