Creating A User Experience That Converts

A potential customer or future client has found your company and has decided toclick through to your website – so far so good! But what now?

Far too often we see businesses putting their all into their social media and online marketing, only to leave their website untouched and simply hope that once a customer gets to that stage, they are ready to buy. The fact is the ideal conversion funnel and customer journey is as much about providing a great user experience on your website as it is about getting them there in the first place. Otherwise, you will simply find that those who may have otherwise purchased from you, will click away and head to one of your competitors instead.

So, how do you keep website visitors hooked and provide them with a great experience that will keep them coming back for more?

There are a handful of aspects that we all look for in a great website experience – many of them without even realising it.

One of the most important – also one of those features which is obvious if you get it wrong! – is optimisation and ensuring that your website is well optimised for browsing across all manner of different devices. What this means is making sure the images, fonts, call to action banners and buttons are all displaying correctly on a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, and a smartphone – without hassle.

There are so many technologies and web design companies out there now that focus on this, so it’s an easy one to action. But the difference it can make is huge!

This doesn’t mean simply having a menu at the top of your webpage – it also means making each page and page header as intuitive as possible, so that a visitor looking for something specific will be able to find it quickly and easily. Consider the way that your website is laid out and the way that you use a combination of content and imagery to make every section of the site as clear as possible.

Remember that it may seem obvious to you, but you need to be looking at your website from the perspective of someone who doesn’t yet know you or your brand, and isn’t yet aware of your value to them as a customer.

This is where it’s important to understand the customer journey as a whole particularly if a user has landed on your website by clicking on a specific call to action button such as a deal you sent them, or a contact button. As a user, they will click that button and expect to land on the right page to complete the task they set out to do – whether that be contacting you or benefitting from your promised offer. Consistency is key both in the customer journey and in the messages you are giving out.

Your website is just one part of your overall marketing strategy, and so needs to be approached in line with everything else you are doing as part of that strategy.Remember that a poor user experience will likely cause a customer journey to end very suddenly – and it’s your responsibility to put yourself in the shoes of your user and understand what the ideal experience looks like for them. Want to find out how MBJ can help you move forward and create the best user experience for your website? Get in touch.