Nowadays, viewers and users of your site want to explore with ease and without hesitation. Keeping your website updated and eye catching is competitive enough, but maintaining user friendly protocol is what makes a site stand out even more. The moment a user finds a website difficult to navigate through, he will quickly move on to the next one.
Users want their internet searching experience to be as prompt and accurate as possible, in this case, Google can only do so much. The other side falls towards the web developer’s format, layout, and correct usage of SEO in order to make his website relevant.
Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to keeping your site user-friendly:
Make Navigation Simple
When a user browses through your site, his options should be intuitive and easy to achieve. This makes it a win-win for everyone which is to cultivate subscribers and increase rankings onto your site all while making the user’s online experience an ideal one.
Make your Logo Visible
Make sure to keep your logo easy to see so it can always remind a user where they are and which site they are perusing through. When they notice your logo, they will learn to identify with you and your brand.
Instill Search Functionality & Buyer Personas
Create buyer personas for your services. This means you have developed a basic understanding of who the client is by relevance of his characteristics, demographic, job level, and daily activities. For those who may be visiting your site for the first time, insert a search bar onto the top of your page. This can create more efficiency and easier finds for the things that someone may be looking for.
Guide the User on Where They Need to Go
Highlight navigation menus and make a “follow-the-yellow-brick-road” type trail for your users. These are essentially bread crumbs that can lead to a call-to-action which can ultimately generate conversion rates for your company. Other things that will help users navigate better can be links that take them to separate landing pages regarding the specific topic they are looking for more information on. These links should stand out by being bold-faced and/or underlined.
KISS (Keep it simple, silly!)
This short phrase goes a long way when you have limited time to get your message across, especially when the competition is staggering. When you keep the language and content on your site easy to read and understand, you convey your message faster and it translates better to your audience. The less terminology and jargon used, the better!
Make Contact Information Easy to Find
Be sure that your contact information or forms can be easily found and navigated to. There should typically be a tab dedicated to this on your website. This alone can help generate more leads to your site if someone wants to reach out personally and speak with a representative and learn more about your business.
Mobile Friendly
Most importantly and especially due to the latest Google update, having your site be receptive to mobile devices will lead to higher rankings. Despite competitors who may be doing better than you in other facets, if their site is not responsive to tablets or other smartphone devices, they will lose several prospects and their rankings will plummet. This already puts you ahead of the curve.