Want A User-Friendly Website? Here’s What You Should Do

Does your website scream “user-friendly”? No? Kind of? Almost? None of the above answers are acceptable other than a resounding yes. Take a look at these facts about website user-friendliness:

• 50 milliseconds- The time an user takes to decide whether to stay or leave the website.
• 74%- Users are likely to return to your website if it is user-friendly.
• 400% – The conversion rate for user-friendly websites.
• 53%- Visitors leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.

The World Wide Web is like a vast ocean. Statistics say there are 1.18 billion websites (both active and inactive) globally. Active websites alone account for nearly 17%, which translates to millions of websites competing with you. So an appealing design and engaging content alone aren’t enough if you want your website to stand out from the crowd. If a responsive website design is what you want, this article is totally for you.

Why Should Your Website Be User-Friendly?

Webster’s dictionary defines “user-friendly” as ” easy to learn, understand, use, or deal with.” And that is exactly what anyone wants in a website. Even the most non-tech-savvy person should find it easy to use your website features without any hassles.

In short, just list down everything that you expect when visiting a website. You will want the website to:

• Open in less than three seconds (if not, you will move to another website).
• Enable easy navigation (You don’t want to get lost within the site)
• Find all the required buttons (they should be easy to locate)
• Make a purchase without hesitation (you need safe payment gateways)

These are the criteria that every user expects. The site that consistently ticks these criteria will have a steady stream of visitors and potential clients. So, let’s look at the main principles of designing websites that users are likely to love.

7 User-Friendly Principles That Every Website Must Follow

1. Easy navigation

Navigation is the cornerstone of usability. A visually appealing website will be no good if the visitor gets stuck when using the site. In a survey conducted by Clutch, easy navigation tops the list of “most useful website features”. A whopping 94% of the people prefer websites that provide:

• Effortless access to the content they want
• Clear menu structure that provides easy manoeuvrability between pages
• Ample navigation options to explore high volume content
• Easy access to menus and shopping categories
• Quick identification of pages
• Breadcrumbs to assist navigation

The most likely scenario is that the users will leave your website if they don’t understand how to navigate it. To avoid such situations, make sure the main navigation menu options are visible on your website.

2. Quick loading

By “quick,” we mean 2-3 seconds. That is all the time you have to keep your visitors from moving to another website. In the digital era, faster means better. Page load time affects your website’s search engine rankings and greatly impacts customer satisfaction.

This positive experience is more likely to fuel conversions and increase online sales. These aspects culminate in a positive experience that generates good word-of-mouth and increases your brand popularity.

3. Organised layout

A clean, non-messy grid is an incredible asset to your website. A proper grid-based layout:

• Helps structure your website design
• Keeps your content well-organised
• Aligns the elements on the page
• Lines up your content into columns and sections
• Provides a sense of balance
• Provides visually-pleasing aspects

4. Consistent colours

Maintaining a consistent colour scheme is one of the hardest tasks as far as websites are concerned. It is hard to discern the colours that your users will unanimously like. To simplify your task, run a survey, collect feedback, and decide which colours people like the most.

With hundreds of colours and shades available, it is easy to falter. So, follow these tips to be consistent with your colour schemes:

• Avoid combining extremely dark colours with light ones
• Avoid using super bright and super dark colours
• Ensure you pick the right colour combination
• Keep the colour scheme as minimalistic as possible

5. Visual engagement

Utilising pictures and illustrations will help you create a web design that is appealing and user-friendly. At the same time, it is important to use pictures that match the theme of your website or application. Choose the wrong content, and your users may become confused. You should also use high-quality images because that’s what users prefer. Furthermore, illustrations are among the best methods to attract users’ attention. It helps to display the website theme and improve website usability.

6. Content relevancy

The whole world knows that “content is king.” But the truth is, it can be king only if it is relevant to your website. If not, the content is just mere words and sentences. To create relevant content:

• Study your target audience
• Understand why they are visiting your website
• Define user scenarios to glean what they want from your content
• Use simple, coherent, and lucid content
• Use the right keywords to bring your audience to your website.

7. Mobile responsiveness

A website that’s not mobile responsive will disappear into oblivion. This is the stark truth. Mobile responsiveness refers to a website or web page’s design that aligns with smartphones, laptops, and other devices.

In 2016, the global number of smartphone users surpassed nearly 2 billion. We are now in 2022. Imagine where this number would be now. More than 70% of your users will access your website through their mobile devices. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every designer to prioritise the small screen as much as the big ones.

Mobile responsiveness includes:

• Optimised images
• Easy-to-click buttons
• Mobile-first design approach
• Mobile-friendly screen

List Of Dont’s For A User-Friendly Website

As always, it is not only the Do’s that count for creating a successful website. The Don’ts matter as much. Here goes our list of what you should not do to avoid going overboard with user-friendliness, Don’t:

• Annoy users with unnecessary dialogues.
• Send alerts every time they try to make a payment transaction
• Fill dialogues and alerts with irrelevant information.
• Forget to get the user’s permission for dialogues and alerts.

Some Final Words

Good usability cannot be attained overnight. It requires thorough field research, constant testing, and refining. In short, it is work for experts like the brilliant web design team at Digital SEO, Chennai. Contact us, list your requirements, and rest assured we will create the best website to boost your clientele and sales!