SEO has been a big part of online business for almost as long as the internet itself, dawning in the early 1990s and moving with the constantly changing ebb and flow of the digital marketplace. Despite what many people might claim, SEO is still a strong business practice, although in many ways it resembles nothing like what it used to, focusing nowadays mostly on the importance of user driven web design. After more than two decades of practise, these are the techniques that the industry has found never fail us, and these are the facts concerning the importance of focusing on user experience for your website.

What Is User Driven Web Design?

Simply put, user driven web design is the process of making sure that your website is first and foremost usable by your target audience. This means that your primary goal is to create a good and welcoming experience for visitors to your website, and at its most basic includes:

• Simple Navigation: Making sure that visitors can find their way to the page they’re looking for, from anywhere on your site;
• Direct Language: Speaking directly to your audience, person to person, in a way that is inclusive and welcoming;
• No Obstacles: Pop-ups, sidebars and similar objects that disrupt the user’s enjoyment of a site are definitely anti-user;
• Give Them What They Want: Contact information, enquiry forms, conversion buttons, call to actions or plain information. Whatever the user is on your site for, make sure that it’s one of the first or most obvious things for them to find.

Basically, user driven web design is the practice of making sure that your website makes life easy for your user. At the end of the day, no-one is more important to you than your customers.

Why it Matters

So, why is it important to focus on user driven web design, and how does it help from an SEO perspective? Well, for starters, it’s much easier to convert a customer who enjoys their experience on their website than one who doesn’t. These customers are also more likely to return in future, meaning more revenue, and to recommend your site to others. On the other hand, a site that is difficult to use will get a bad reputation, and you will see traffic drop.

But what does this mean for SEO? Well, a website that has more traffic is, in search engine’s eyes, a better quality website. A website that has more inbound links (recommendations from previous users) is a better quality website. A website that is shared more gets more traffic and inbound links, not to mention the power of modern social media for word of mouth. Essentially, a website that is easier to use for your customer is a website that is better in every way, for everyone, be it a search engine crawl bot, a customer or any other interested party.

The Processes

Ok, but what is user driven web design? What changes can you make to your site that will help you achieve these fantastic results? We have a few suggestions that will help you gain and retain many more users:

• Mobile Usability: As mobile becomes the browsing platform of choice, it’s important to make sure that your site works on every scale. Simple mobile compatibility means making sure that your website works on a small screen, but at its best, ‘responsive design’, your website should look good and work well on every screen size, from a small phone to a widescreen monitor;
• Quick-Click Buttons: Often, a customer doesn’t have all the time in the world to make decisions, and doesn’t want to have to go through pages and pages just to make a simple transaction or enquiry. Having an obvious way to quickly process enquiries, orders and similar issues will allow people to come to the site, do what they need to do and then go, with no fuss or negative feelings;
• Easy to Read: Much like they don’t have time to go through pages and pages to convert, many users don’t have the time to read every word you write. Try to make all the information your user needs clear and obvious, so they can get it just from skimming one or two relevant pages. Bullet points and bold headers are a good start.

That’s not everything, but it is a good start. Novi.Digital specialise in User Experience design and Conversion Rate Optimisation, so if you’re concerned with the usability of your website, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 01524 566 736 or send an enquiry to [email protected] for a free consultation.