Consumers are spoiled for choice now when it comes to searching online. If a website doesn’t immediately solve their problem, they will just move on to the next Google result. That’s why website usability is so important. A website can be beautifully designed, but if users find the content difficult to navigate, they will leave. Here are some tips to consider when it comes to website usability and design.
Understand the Buyer’s Journey
A buyer goes through three stages before purchasing:
- Awareness: the buyer is aware they have a problem
- Consideration: the buyer has defined their problem and is considering solutions
- Decision: the buyer decides on a solution
Understanding your potential buyer’s journey is foundational to website usability. Businesses must empathize with their potential buyer’s problems, so they can better serve them, providing the right information at the right time.
Conversion Path Mapping
An effective conversion path smoothly converts website visitors to leads. Having a clear map of your buyer’s conversion path will help with website usability.
- Attract visitors with blog and social media posts
- Offer the visitor something valuable in exchange for their contact information
- Close with a call-to-action (CTA) that will take them to a landing page to finalize this exchange
If you understand your buyer’s persona and their journey, you will stand a better chance converting them.
Function Over Fashion
If you know your buyer’s journey and you have your conversion path mapped out, optimizing your website’s design for usability will be crucial in getting buyers to take that CTA. The user’s experience throughout all this process should be easy and undistracting. Even the slightest bit of resistance can deter a visitor from responding to the CTA.
Nearly 40 per cent of visitors will stop engaging with a website if the layout is cumbersome. At that point, you might as well say goodbye because nearly 90 per cent of online consumers won’t return to a site after a bad experience.
That’s why it’s important to prioritize functionality over fashion. Dazzling website design may be aesthetically pleasing, but if it gets in the way of the conversion path then your business will suffer. After all, your business is about making sales and getting results, not winning website design competitions.
That’s why Pulsion designs for results. Our websites maximize usability for prospects, focusing on painless navigation and remarkable content, getting buyers to the end of the sales funnel.
If you would like help with website usability, please contact us today.