At the heart of a successful website is one that is designed with the user in mind. Websites that rank high in ease of use of having simple navigation may get more traffic and better results in the search engines. A user-friendly website starts with intelligent design choices. You need the help of an experienced SEO and website design firm, Unwired Web Solutions, to make your site more effective.
Learn About Your User’s Behaviour and Habits
First, businesses need to understand their user’s behaviour and habits while searching the web. Companies can work with their marketing team to develop a baseline demographic of their ideal customer. You can learn about your potential customers with marketing research into their habits and lifestyle.
Once you find out what is important to your customers, you should focus on that information and make it easy to find on your site. You should also have your web design team plan out the overall purpose of your site and ensure the flow of information is logical and makes sense to your users. Users that get frustrated with a website may leave and never return.
Create a Clear Structure for Your Site
Next, work with your web design pros to create a clear structure for your site. Web design trends have changed in the last few years, making it essential to revise your site’s structure if it’s older and tired. Use feedback forms and surveys to get information about how you can change the layout of your site to better serve your users.
Whatever structure you choose to go with, be sure that your site is functional in all types of internet browsers. Popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox may be fine, but users may have different browser preferences that are different, such as Opera, Safari or Edge.
Use Intuitive Navigation Menus
Your site’s navigation also needs to be updated to be more intuitive and user-friendly. Most successful sites start with a landing page that presents important information to users and instructs them with a specific call to action. Ideally, your landing pages will be able to convert users into customers and bring in more revenue.
Your web design team should be experts in advanced programming languages, such as DHTML, JavaScript, Motools and Ajax so they can build navigation menus that function smoothly. If you have a lot of information on your site, your team should be adding drop-down menus or other navigation tools to simplify the organization.
Optimize for Mobile Devices
Many users today browse the web on mobile devices, such as phones or tablets. The look and structure of your site may function differently when it’s not being displayed on a computer.
Your site needs to also be optimized for mobile devices with a different layout and structure that fits a smaller screen. Web design for mobile devices looks different from desktop designs and needs unique features, such as a condensed navigation bar, larger fonts and optimized images.
Improve Load Times
Modern internet users are also very impatient, so your site’s load time is critical in keeping them engaged with your content. Most web design experts recommend clearing sites of annoying add-ons that increase load time, such as videos, pop-ups and complicated widgets.
The average site has about four seconds of leeway for load time, so anything you add to your design needs to have a fast turnaround time in order to be effective for your audience. Our team works with our clients to test site load time and improve speed so you don’t turn off potential customers.
Make a User-Friendly Website
If you aren’t sure how to make a user-friendly website, that’s where we come in. Unwired Web Solutions understands the latest trends in web design and can apply them to usability. Our team of designers, programmers and testers can revamp your site so it not only looks great, but it generates leads and results. We combine this with our content marketing strategies to give you a comprehensive team approach to web design.
Contact the team at Unwired Web Solutions today for more information about our web design process. We approach design by first learning about your company’s goals for your site and then working with your existing structure to design something more effective.