There a few simple ways to improve user experience on a website, but the most significant step to take is to first start thinking about the website as if you are a user yourself.
Ways to improve user experience
- Navigation should be easy and stress free. Have an easy to see and understand category system. This will also prevent information overload, which can be very off putting to users
- Don't overwhelm your user. This applies throughout the website. Make sure that text is broken down into manageable paragraphs, with titles where appropriate. This leads me on to my next point...
- Use images. They can break up text, and draw in the eye of the reader. Make sure they are good quality, though, no one wants to see pictures that look like they were taken on a potato.
- Keep it fresh. The appearance of your website is important. The theme of you website should be appropriate for the content, and should not feel outdated. For example, a website advertising traditional wedding would be better suited to a lighter coloured theme with elegant writing that it would to a black website with blood red writing.
- Make sure the technical side of your site is up to date. Your website should be fast, and all your links should work. In this day and age websites that work and look well across all devices i.e. Mobiles, tablets, etc will be more likely to get a thumbs up from users.
- Understand who is using the website, and consider what they will want to see. Think about why people are visiting your website, and ask yourself, is the website meeting their needs?
- Have a look at other successful websites and see if they are doing anything differently to you. Do you need a live chat services? Or maybe it would be helpful to have a FAQ section?
Most importantly perhaps, get feedback from users, and listen to what they say. You can do this without breaking the bank by using forums, surveys or websites such as Peek.usertesting.com.
Here is a usefully video which gives a few suggestions on how to improve user expereince on a website:
These are just a few ideas to get you started; as you can see there is lots you can do!
