User experience or UX is an important factor in making a website successful. Audiences coming to your website need to have a great experience where they can easily access all the information they need. A website should not only be aesthetically pleasing but also be simple and easy to navigate. Poor website design can discourage a user to spend time on it. Today, there are a number of websites that can give users what they need. If a user lands on a website with a bad user experience they will not waste any time on it.
To have a successful website, businesses should ensure that their website is giving their audiences the best experience. If not, then your users may not interact with your site and end up going to your competitors. In this article, we will discuss all the ways in which you can evaluate your website’s user experience. By monitoring your website, you can find out where it needs improvement. This can help you create a great user experience for your audience and encourage them to interact more with your website.
Here is how you can evaluate a website user experience.
Take a look at your bounce rate
A good way to start assessing the performance of your web pages is to check your bounce rate. Google Analytics shows you the performance of your landing pages where you can find your bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of users who came to your website and left without taking any action. A high bounce rate suggests that there is a problem on your web page that is driving the users away. This can be related to poor user experience. When you have a high bounce rate, monitor your site speed. Slow websites are the main reason why people end up leaving.
If you have a slow page loading time it could be because you are using large images or videos. Heavy files on your page can slow it down. Ensure that you compress your images before you upload them. Another reason for a high bounce rate could be broken links that lead to pages which are not functional. Lastly, poor, cluttered and outdated layout can drive users away. Through bounce rate you can examine what maybe driving your users away and take measures to improve it.
Analyze content readability
Content is important to your users. Your content is what attracts users to your website. If you have great content, but it’s hard to read then users may not read it. Readability is important to get your message across to your audience. Like discussed above, audiences do not have much patience and they may just exit your web page. You need to pay attention to fonts, color and presentation of your content. Fonts should neither be too big or too small. Select fonts that are easily readable. Arrange your content neatly in paragraphs and use headings and subheading to organize it better.
When using a color scheme, make sure that it goes with your brand image. Use a color palette that is pleasing to the eye. Layout of your content should be simple and easy to read. Make proper use of white space in your layout so that it does not look cluttered. Evaluate how you are presenting your content and look at it from your user’s perspective. If you find your content hard to read, then so do your users.
Use a website heatmap
If you want to know how your users interact with your website, then a heatmap is the answer. A heatmap is a tool that helps you see what people do on your website. It uses a system of color coding to provide data related to your customer behavior. Through heatmaps you can see where your user’s click, which area of your webpage they interact with more, how far they scroll down and more. This gives you a glimpse of user behavior on your website.
Heatmaps are used as analytical tools to gather data in your website performance. It becomes easier to understand if your audience is having a good user experience. You can also see the areas which need improvement. If not used properly heatmaps tend to give misleading information. Hence, it is important to set up heatmaps correctly and give it time to gather all the data before you start analyzing.
Want to improve your site's user experience? Take a look at these simple strategies that can help you do just that.
Run A/B testing
A/B testing allows you to experiment and evaluate various aspects of your webpages. With A/B testing you can create different versions of the same web page to test it. You can test the layout, fonts, CTA’s, headings, color scheme and more. After testing you can analyze which version of the web page had more interaction and better performance. If one is better than the other, it means that your users prefer that version more. This gives you an idea about your user’s preferences. Then you can continue using that web page which has a better user experience.
The main advantage about A/B testing is that it can show you clearly what works with your users and what does not. It also helps you rule out a lot of confusion. If you are confused about which color scheme would work better, simply test it out. It will help you create a better user experience for your audience. A/B testing is important to analyzing your user experience.
Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
Most people access your website from their mobile devices or tablets along with desktops. Google Analytics offers a device report that lets you see which devices your target audience is using when accessing your website. If you see a good number of audiences using mobile devices, then you need to ensure that your website is optimized for this device. If people access your website through a mobile phone and see fonts too small or big with a messy layout, they will definitely not interact with it. You may end up losing many leads who wanted to interact with your website. Hence, check what your website looks like through mobile phones and tablets. Make changes to any areas that may look sloppy through these devices. This way you ensure that you are engaging these users on various devices and not losing them.
Do some primary research
Another effective way to evaluate user experience is to conduct some market research. You can simply conduct interview sessions with your own team and ask them about their preferences. Make a note of what your team thinks about your overall website and if they have any suggestions. You can also reach out to your existing customers and ask them about their experience with your website. Send them a questionnaire through email and encourage them to give their opinions. Or you can also interview them to understand their experience with your website.
Gather all the data and analyze every aspect of your website. Make notes about the key areas you wish to change. This can allow you to get a lot of positive and negative feedback. You can continue doing what the audience prefer and make changes to what they don’t. We usually do not have a clear perspective of what our users want. But doing this research can help you understand your users better. Also, it can show you the improvements your website needs to create a better user experience.
A website needs constant maintenance and work. Your job is not done simply by creating a website. It’s going to need improvement regularly. If you think you have a poor user experience on your website, do not panic. This is not a problem you can resolve quickly. It will take some time and constant effort. You will need to make updates and changes to maintain a good user experience.
The methods listed above can help you evaluate your site’s user experience frequently. With this you can always be aware about the performance of your website. Use these methods to keep a check of your website and important landing pages, so that you can ensure the successful performance of your website.
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