Why a User-friendly Website Isn’t Optional Anymore

Have you ever visited a website hoping to find more information about a product or service, only to be frustrated by pop-ups, unorganized site structure or broken links?

Standing out in a crowded digital space is critical.

Every organization has a website, but not every organization has a website worth visiting.

Your website often is the first impression you make on a potential client, so making it simple and easy to use should be top of mind. In fact, 94% of consumers in a survey said they want an easy-to-navigate website. If it’s frustrating to use, you’re losing business.

Here are seven reasons why your website should be easy to navigate and user-friendly.

1.) Increase Credibility

We’ve all been to a company website that looks like it hasn’t been updated in years or, possibly, even decades. When we visit one of these sites, our kneejerk reaction generally is negative.

If a company can’t even put time and money into its website, what kind of time and money are they going to put into their products and services?

2.) Help People Find Info About Your Services and Contact Details

This one is a no-brainer, as it’s the main reason why someone visits your website in the first place.

If they can’t find what they are looking for or cannot contact you, they’ll quickly leave and move on to the next option.

Common mistakes companies make on their websites include burying the contact page in submenus, having too much information on a single page and unclear calls-to-action.

3.) Enhances User Experience

When potential clients visit your website, you want the experience to be memorable — and not in a bad way.

It’s a frustrating experience combing through a website and being unable to find what you were looking for. Your company’s website always is making first impressions.

According to Forbes Advisor, users form an opinion about a website in 0.05 seconds, and 61% leave a site if they don’t find what they’re looking for in about 5 seconds.

Your website should load quickly, menus should be easy to find and the mobile version of your website should be just as easy to navigate as the desktop version.

4.) Increases Visit Duration

Of course, the goal of any website is to educate people on your products and services. But once they get there, you want them to stay and check out other pages or contact you for more information.

The longer they are on your site, the more opportunities there are for them to engage with your content, which leads to a better overall user experience.

5.) Reduces Bounce Rates

The opposite of increasing visit duration is reducing bounce rates. Bounce rate is used to measure how many visitors come to your website and leave after viewing only one page.

The goal is to have a bounce rate below 55%. A high bounce rate will lower your rankings in search results, making it harder for people to find your website.

6.) Increases Conversion Rates

Ultimately, your website needs to convert visitors into customers.

Some customers will visit a website and make a purchase right away because they know what they want, but most will want to know more information before making any decision.

This customer journey, eventually, should lead to conversions, which include making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a PDF, filling out a form and clicking a call-to-action.

7.) Boosts SEO

A positive user experience on a website contributes to SEO (search engine optimization), which is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic.

There are a lot of factors that contribute to SEO, but an easy-to-navigate and user-friendly website will boost SEO, which will boost your rankings in search results.

A well-designed website can leave a lasting impression. So, it’s important to work with a web developer that can build websites that attract, engage and convert.

Audit Your Organization’s Website

Whether you’re looking to optimize your existing website or create a new one, an audit will help you determine what’s working and what needs to be improved.

Contact us here if you’d like to schedule a meeting to learn more about website development and SEO.

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