In today’s digital landscape, every company has a long list of competitors. The products can vary in quality, but they perform the same function in many ways.
So, how do people decide where to spend their hard-earned money?
The answer is they choose brands that offer the best user experience (UX).
Simply put, UX is a customer’s overall experience when interacting with your brand and using your product. The impact of UX is far-reaching; design, content, accessibility options, and features all culminate and help users determine if your brand is worth their time.
When marketers and business leaders talk about improving user experience, they typically talk about large changes that will fundamentally change a brand.
I think it’s also important to consider small changes that can still dramatically impact UX. Today, I’ll share 6 seemingly minor ways you can improve customer satisfaction and create the best possible experience for everyone who visits your website.
Let’s begin!
Reduce Loading Times
I firmly believe that sometimes what your customers don’t notice can improve their experience. In this instance, I’m referring to loading times.
If your website loads lightning fast, there’s nothing for them to think about. On the other hand, if each page takes 5-10 seconds to load, you’re leaving a big gap for users to consider whether you’re a good choice for them.
The statistics show that slow websites tend to see 75% more users leave without taking action. In other words, you could lose over three-fourths of potential traffic if your site doesn’t load quickly.
According to Google, users prefer pages to load in 2 seconds or less. We found that each additional second past that translates to a 7% loss in sales and an 11% loss in pageviews. It’s not hard to see how a website that takes forever to load could lose 75% of its traffic.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can speed up your site. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
– Host videos and large images off-site (or compress them).
– Use a caching plugin to improve load times for returning visitors.
– Invest in a content delivery network (CDN) tool.
– Audit your code regularly. Removing unnecessary characters and spaces can improve loading time.
Add a Search Bar to Your Website
Adding a search bar to your website is a simple but powerful way to create a better user experience.
In today’s fast-paced world, people don’t typically have time to scroll product pages or blogs. They usually know what they want and try to look for it immediately. Including a search bar across your website makes it much easier for visitors to find exactly what they need.
One of the places this is most helpful is on a blog. Close to 80% of internet users read blog posts regularly, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Many marketers include tags so users can find general content categories. But if someone wants to find a very specific piece of content, they need a search bar.
You’ll be happy to know adding a search bar to your site is super simple. Most people can complete the process in a few minutes.
Automate Email Campaigns
Automation is vital for keeping customers engaged and happy, especially when it comes to email marketing. Business owners do not have the time to manually send emails to subscribers, even if they have a fully-developed email team.
When you create automated campaigns, it’s easy to create a streamlined, personal experience for each subscriber, which results in a better user experience.
Broadly speaking, there are 2 types of automated messages; trigger emails and scheduled emails.
Trigger emails occur when a user takes a specific action. For instance, you could create a welcome campaign for new subscribers. When you consider that welcome emails have an 82% open rate, which is the highest open rate compared to other marketing emails, it’s easy to see how this change can create a better UX.
You can also create trigger campaigns for your audience based on how they interact with your site. If someone looks at one or two items, you can automate an email with a discount for these subscribers if they don’t take action. The personalized element will improve satisfaction and boost conversions.
We found that personalizing emails in this way boosted our conversion rate by 26%!
Scheduled emails are delivered at a specific time and have an intended purpose. For example, you could create a campaign to promote your upcoming summer sale. If you create a week’s worth of emails in one shot, you can set it up and drip them to users throughout the event.
You should personalize these campaigns, too, based on personal preferences and how subscribers interact with your website.
Build Trust with New Users
Building trust is a fundamental part of creating a positive experience. Imagine how you would feel if a company sold a product you need, but you feel on edge every time you walk into the store. Each time you walk out without placing an order.
Eventually, you would stop going back to the store because something in your gut tells you they are not trustworthy.
Instead of letting users feel this way about your online store, use social proof marketing to build trust with visitors from the moment they land on your site.
There are plenty of quick and easy ways to build your reputation and show users that your business is honest and worth their time. Live sales alerts and trust seals are two common strategies.
But the most effective form of social proof is user reviews. Studies show that 72% of people won’t bother interacting with a brand until they’ve read reviews from real customers.
I recommend adding a review form to your product pages so customers can share their feedback with new visitors. You can also pull positive reviews from these pages and social media highlighting your brand’s benefits and show them on frequently visited parts of your site, like your homepage.
When users feel like they can trust your business, you can guarantee that they will have a better experience.
Streamline the Checkout Process
A poorly designed checkout process can significantly impact how prospects view your business. People don’t want to shop with companies if they have to struggle to place an order.
You want to do everything possible to ensure the checkout flow is straightforward and accessible.
Here are a few ways to get started:
– Simplify your payment form; avoid asking for unnecessary details and allow users to save their information for future orders.
– Include multiple payment option; traditional debit cards, PayPal, Google Wallet, and Apple Pay are popular choices.
– Ensure your cart is “always on”; users should be able to see and modify it from anywhere on the site.
– Remove distractions on your payment page; sidebar ads, popular blog posts, and other content should stay hidden while a user goes through the checkout process to avoid pulling their attention elsewhere.
– Add a progress bar; people are far more likely to complete their order if they have a visual representation and can see how long it will take.
Split Test Along the Way
Finally, split testing can help you create a better UX and maximize conversions with little effort. If you’re unfamiliar, split testing (also called a/b testing) is the process of changing how an ad, email, or title looks for 50% of your audience. The other 50% will see the original version.
The purpose of these tests is to find out which test has the best performance. You can run split tests indefinitely once you get started. As you progress, you’ll begin to see more clicks and engagement.
I suggest sticking with a handful of changes at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Research shows that running split tests on your email campaigns can improve conversions by a whopping 49%. Now, consider you can use these same experiments on your website, social media, and paid ads, and it’s easy to see how this strategy can dramatically impact your business.
Back to You
As you can see, you can make plenty of small changes to your business that will have a massive impact on UX. The tips outlined above will help you create a blueprint for your business and ensure your customers are happy, active, and have a stellar experience when they engage with your company.
