Why User Experience is Important for your Website [Top 5 Reasons]

User Experience (UX) has become a bit of a buzz word in the digital sphere in recent years but it is often misunderstood. Many business owners are still sceptical and unsure why a good user experience is important for their website. To put it simply, user experience encompasses how a person feels when they interact with a system. It is a problem solving discipline that aims to make it as easy as possible for people to use your website and to fulfill their needs. In this Marla Academy article, we will give our top 5 reasons why we think UX is an essential component to success online.

1. Keeps visitors on your site for longer

The average time someone spends on a website is only 15 seconds. That’s not a very large window to get your point across or to get your potential customers to convert! Time is a precious commodity and if a user feels like it is taking too long to complete a task or that they are being sent on a wild goose chase around your website, they are not going to stick around much longer on your site. Good UX will enable your users to complete tasks on your website efficiently, and give them consistent feedback so they know they’re on the right track.

2. Increases your credibility

If a user is completely new to your brand, it is understandable why they may have some reservations or suspicions. A great user experience will help you make the right first impression and put any doubts the users has around your business to bed. In fact, relevant research by Forrester has shown that a positive user experience reduces people’s reluctance to switch brands by 15.8% and increases their likelihood of recommending your brand to a friend by 16.6%.

Looking for more tips on how to make a good first impression online? Check out this helpful article:

– Top 5 Digital Marketing Tips To Make the Best Impression Online

3. Increases revenue

A good user experience has been shown to increase website conversions by up to 400%, and it is easy to see why; if your website makes completing a task easy, while the same process is a nightmare on your competitor’s website, it’s safe to assume which website your potential customers are more likely to convert on. With e-commerce in particular, a positive user experience will put your customer at ease and increase their willingness to follow through on a purchase by 14.5%. Keeping UX in mind can also enable you to be very strategic in the development of your website, and in defining the customer journeys that are most conducive to your business objectives.

4. Encourages brand loyalty

A positive user experience on your website can also play a key role in forging a lasting relationship with your customers. The main goal of UX is to ensure the user’s needs are being met and they can achieve their goals on your website with minimal frustration. A negative experience on your site may cause your customer reluctant to return again in future, and they may seek out your competitors instead. By pairing UX with a strong Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy, you will be well on your way to building a highly targeted and loyal customer base online. Which brings us to our final point…

5. Affects your search rankings

Gone are the days that spammy keyword stuffing would get you to page one on Google. Google’s search algorithm has gotten increasingly more sophisticated through the years, in order to sort out the wheat from the chaff and provide their users with results that are truly relevant and valuable. Not only does this process involve building quality backlinks to your site, but user-friendliness is an area that is becoming more and more prevalent in the world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). If your website is slow loading or lacks a responsive mobile layout, you could be heavily penalised in how Google rates your site and fall behind in search results.

Looking for further guidance in improving your website’s search rankings? You might be interested in these SEO resources.

– Is My Website Optimised For Search Engines?

– Why You Should Optimise Your WordPress Website

What’s your next step to improve your website’s UX?

UX focuses on having a deep understanding of your users and their needs, but also takes into account your business objectives. Evaluating your website for potential pitfalls and designing solutions to avoid them can be hard work but it can avoid a lot of additional work and investment into your website down the line. If you need some extra guidance in identifying areas for improvement, we can carry out a full website audit of and provide you with a report containing helpful pointers on where you can make adjustments that will increase the overall user-friendliness of your site. Contact us today to find out more.