How to optimise the User Experience of your website

The importance of UX and best practices to improve it

The online commerce sector has become increasingly competitive in recent years, which means companies that sell through e-commerce must innovate to ensure their business remains competitive.

When today’s users interact with websites and apps, they expect to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. That’s why it’s essential to offer an intuitive, optimised and responsive website with fast navigation. Understanding user experience (or UX) and therefore the shopping experience is crucial to any e-commerce business.

According to data from Amazon Service, 88% of online shoppers say they won’t visit a website again if the browsing experience is negative: it’s no coincidence that pages with loading times between 1 and 2 seconds have much higher conversion rates than others. These statistics can no longer be ignored by companies wanting to sell online.

What User Experience is and why it’s so important

User Experience refers to a person’s overall experience when they use a product or service, particularly in terms of how easy or engaging it is. It encompasses a wide range of factors, including usability, accessibility, performance, aesthetics and emotion. The goal of UX design is to create products that are easy, efficient and pleasant to use, so that users can achieve their goals effectively and without frustration.

Improving the User Experience of your e-commerce website helps:

Build customer loyalty. Understanding people’s needs precisely and identifying behavioural habits means you can make users’ interaction with your brand more satisfying. This adds value for customers and helps build loyalty.

Get more leads and conversions. Making your e-commerce website simpler and more intuitive is an important goal because when users enjoy interacting with your site, you should see a growth in conversion rates and new leads.

Improve search engine rankings. Optimising a site to with better graphics and more dynamic content to improve usability will also help boost your SEO ranking.

But what are the elements you need to consider when designing a truly effective User Experience?

5 Strategies to improve the User Experience of your website

Improving your website’s UX takes in various strategic aspects of the platform, from design to language to content customisation, but there are also some underestimated factors that can make a big difference. Here are some tips to help you offer a browsing experience in line with user expectations.

1) Understand your users and their needs. The first step to improving UX is knowing who your users are and what they expect from your product or service.

This can be done through market analysis, focus groups, interviews, surveys and usability tests. Every element of an online shop represents a strategic opportunity for improving communication with the user. From the tone of voice to the images chosen for different sections, you should be working to make sure you’re conveying the brand’s values, along with the strengths and features of your product or service and how it can help solve users’ problems.

The way a user interacts with your website can significantly improve their level of satisfaction, guiding them through from the beginning to the end of their transaction. That’s why it’s important to ensure cohesion with your brand image across the site.

2) Optimise the product/service pages and the most strategic sections of the website. To help an e-commerce website perform better, it’s important to make the strategic elements visible and quickly navigable.

This will help users find what they are looking for and complete the transaction in just a few clicks. Use professional product images in HD and consider adding video – customers want to see every little detail of what they’re looking to buy.

 Include detailed descriptions and highlight any technical characteristics, materials and compatibilities. Try to anticipate and allay any concerns or objections in your descriptions. Include customer reviews, ratings and feedback to build trust and credibility. 

Make sure shipping costs are clear and up-front and give the user a choice of payment options to reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts.

3) Optimise the checkout process. To improve the online shopping experience, it’s vital to simplify the customer journey and make it easy for people to buy from you.

Keep the path as clear as possible so that people can find what they’re looking for quickly. Consider using clickable icons and calls to action to help secure the sale. Try to avoid cumbersome checkout procedures, registration or verification. In terms of technical optimisation, make sure your pages, images, clickable and interactive elements load quickly and that the whole site is optimised for different devices and screen sizes. 

Work with developers who will ensure your site uses the latest technology so users have the best possible e-commerce experience. Your website should be capable of coping with a rush of visitors, too – for example, when you’re running a promotion.

4) Make sure your site is responsive. Don’t neglect the visual element of your website – your  fonts, colour schemes and images all help enhance UX and ensure brand cohesion. 

And with 70% of visitors using their mobile phone to shop online, it’s vital to ensure your website is fully optimised for smartphones and tablets. Simple, concise text and a streamlined menu, with a clearly visible hierarchy, will help make your site mobile friendly.

5) Make good use of analytics and user feedback. Making sure your site delivers the right User Experience relies to a great extent on understanding who is visiting your site, how long they stay, the bounce rate, which pages are popular, and how many clicks lead to conversions. 

That’s why your website analytics are invaluable. Once you know where adjustments could be made, you can tweak your offer, test your ideas out and try working with SEO experts to optimise your site. And don’t forget to collect user feedback – many people are happy to complete a short survey after their purchase.

We can help

Mail Boxes Etc. can help you improve your site’s UX. Ask about our digital design capabilities and improve the shopping experience with our seamless product fulfilment and delivery solutions.

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