3 Fantastic UX Tips For Better Online Conversions

AliceL

Jul 23, 2014

One of the most important aspects of any website design project is getting the UX, or User Experience, elements flowing properly.

What I want to share with you here are the UX tips which can and will have a lasting impact on how your websites are designed, and how easily customers can interact with them. After all, the goal of UX is to make sure your visitors get the result they want, or the information they've been looking for, in the least possible number of clicks. Always remember that the smallest UX tweak to a site can dramatically improve how well that same site is converting visitors into customers.

The Homepage

The goal of your homepage is to catch your visitor's attention and hold it for just long enough that they'll stick around on your site. So instead of trying to cram everything about your business or service onto your homepage use it as introduction to what you have to offer, while focusing very clearly on exactly what you can offer them.

Keep paragraphs short and to the point - nothing turns off web visitors more than long-winded, boring stretches of text.

Use bold, italics and underlining to emphasize important sections of your homepage

Make sure all your links not only work but also actually link to the correct page

Keep your logo/header a sensible size - you can't use a fancy, gigantic logo to sell more of your products

Use easily-understood English - the vast majority of web surfers read at a grade/primary school level

Never have music playing on your homepage

Never user animated images on your homepage unless you absolutely have to

Navigation

A navigation system which doesn't work, or isn't compatible with a given browser, is the quickest way for you to convince web surfers that they should click 'Back' and find another website with a navigation system which actually works for them. The key to a fantastic navigation system is to keep it lean and keep it clean - the less clutter there is the better the user experience is going to be.

If you're still not sure how to create a great nav bar/menu just follow these tips to avoid confusing your visitors:

Plan your navigation system out on paper well in advance of coding it - you'll spot a lot more issues this way

Users should be able to find exactly what they're looking for in no more than 3 clicks

No menu should have more than 8 items on it - people stop caring after the fifth item on any menu

Avoid using animated menus to prevent browser compatibility issues, especially with mobile devices

Make links within your navigation system as obvious as possible

Typography

If you're freaking out because you're not sure what typography has to do with website design then please don't - typography is the art of arranging text in a way which is easy to read, but still achieves the goal you set out for it in the first place. Readability might be the last item in our series of UX tips, but that doesn't mean it's any less important than any other element of UX design and implementation.

With that being said there are some aspects of typography which you need to avoid like the plague and these include:

Mixing and matching fonts on your page - no page should have any more than 3 fonts in total used on it, but ideally limit your choices to just 2 fonts.

Avoid all the fluff and just give people the information they need to know - less is almost always more when it comes to text on a website.

Make sure each primary paragraph of text is a size 14 font - that might seem large but it's also far easier for people to read.

Never, ever use light gray text on a white background - it might look stylish but it's virtually impossible to read.

Use San Serif fonts whenever possible - they're just easier for people to read on computer screens.

If you have to use italics, underlining or bolding of text then use them sparingly - in fact avoid underlining any word unless it's a hyperlink.

Never, ever use a combination of a light color for your font (white, yellow, green) against a light or bright background (yellow, green, blue) - it might look quirky but it will make your visitors nauseous in no time at all.

Break up any large blocks of text you might have with bullet points and images.

UX best practices are something which take time to develop, and the reality is that most of them are more about common sense than having some higher sense of web design, or superior artistic abilities.

The key to creating a great UX for your visitors is to make sure your website is as accessible as possible, to as wide a number of people as possible, and to constantly evaluate how well your site is doing in that regard by asking the people who matter most - your visitors. Never be afraid to accept constructive criticism of your UX efforts, because you'll become a far better web designer as a result.

About the author

Hey all! I’m Alice, I’m a copywriter who is passionate about all things related to web design. Check out my G+ page