For many people, your website is their first introduction to your business. This means it needs to look good and provide a great user experience simultaneously.
People today are highly critical of websites, especially if they’re considering doing business with a company. In fact, one study found that 94% of people cited web design quality as the deciding factor for rejecting a website.
Modern web design must go much further than just creating something that looks appealing. It also must facilitate a good user experience. Usability has a lot to do with this.
In addition to increasing the chance of a satisfied customer, good usability also attracts more visitors to your site. You simply can’t afford to ignore this element when designing a new online presence.
What Exactly Is Usability?
Usability refers to how easy it is for a visitor to interact with a site. This factor determines whether they stick around and become customers or click away and go to your competition.
Achieving good usability through modern web design means creating an environment where visitors can navigate the site, perform tasks, or easily learn about your business and contact you.
It also means providing an attractive, engaging interface, void of errors or confusion.
Let’s go more in-depth into how good usability will benefit you.
Convert More Clients
When considering your website design, you need to think about what you want the end result to be. Do you want users to purchase products directly from the site? Or, is your primary goal to get visitors to contact you or subscribe to a newsletter?
When a new user visits your site for the first time, simplicity can go a long way in achieving your goals.
This means having a clear navigation structure. A user should never feel confused about where they are and what information they have access to.
A navigation roadmap that’s easy to use can be a great tool for guiding the visitor through the site, thus increasing the chance of them either purchasing from you or making contact.
Usability in modern web design also requires a good call to action throughout the site. A visitor should never wonder what to do next. A good user experience means you’re providing them with their next steps.
Ensure Your Credibility
As a business, your credibility and reputation are crucial for future success. A website that’s poorly designed and hard to use is detrimental to consumers’ perception of you.
Even if you have good content on your site, it needs to look and function well or people may doubt your credibility. Outdated websites aren’t tolerated anymore. Having one shows that you’re not in the know when it comes to modern web design, or that you simply don’t care.
A site with bad usability may also create skepticism in the eyes of potential customers. A visitor may not view you as a trusted business if your site is confusing or full of errors.
When creating a site, aside from ease of use, you should also be upfront about your business. Include well-written content about the history of the company. You should also provide easy access to your location and contact information.
If a visitor has a good experience on your site, not only does this instill confidence in them, it increases the chance they’ll come back again and share your site with others.
Streamline Your Process
Solid usability can also help streamline your business operations. This is especially true if your site acts as an e-commerce portal.
By providing an easy shopping experience that’s well-built, you take a huge amount of burden off you and your staff. You also cut down on costs related to product returns and support.
A high-functioning website can also help your customers with their order status, online customer support, or chat capability.
Make sure that you’re working with an expert web design professional to ensure all of this functionality goes over without error. Doing so will allow you to pass a lot of the workload over to your website and make things easier for you.
Boost SEO
While a modern web design should always provide a good experience for the user, as a business owner, it also benefits you in the eyes of Google.
In the past, it was much easier to rank well in search engines. Fill your site with the right keywords and go after backlinks and you’d likely be successful.
Today, however, it’s not that easy. You have to be a little more exhaustive with your SEO efforts.
Search engines reward sites for having certain usability features in place. Now, user experience is a ranking factor.
Some of the things search engines reward a site for includes clear navigation, relevant information, and high-quality content.
A website also ranks better if their site employs responsive design. This means it displays and functions well across all devices, including tablets and smartphones.
Given that almost 60% of people use mobile devices instead of desktops to perform searches, this element of usability is something you can’t ignore.
Return Customers
As a business, going after new clients should always be part of your marketing initiatives. However, you can’t forget about the importance of maintaining the customers you have.
A modern web design with strong usability helps ensure that your customers keep coming back. Whether you provide online shopping or deliver regular content, a well-oiled site is an invaluable resource for your company.
Having a site that provides a good user experience increases your chances of becoming an authority in your industry or niche. This means your audience relies on you time and time again.
Good Usability with Modern Web Design
The initial investment of creating a high-quality website frightens some business owners. They’d rather put their marketing efforts elsewhere. In today’s competitive business landscape, doing this means losing out on countless new clients.
By turning to the professionals to create a high-end web design with usability as a principal component, you’re ensuring a great ROI.
We provide digital marketing solutions, including UX design. Contact us to learn more.
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