The interaction between customer and seller of any given product is a tale as old as time; and like any good story, that process needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. One that keeps the attention and interest of the potential buyer, all leading towards the ultimate goal of making that purchase and coming back for more.
Your website can be a crucial chapter in that story, and poor site design and structure is where many businesses often have trouble converting views into purchases. Of course, it’s easy enough to say that good design is important, but what does that mean, exactly? There are as many ways to do it as there are stars in the sky, but there are some definite guiding principles that can help you map your user’s experience, and take them on a journey they won’t soon forget.
Defining Principals of User Experience:
1. Know your user:
At the core of every business are the people you’re trying to serve, and deep-diving into your potential customer’s life can give you all the insight you need to help them with their needs. Ask yourself about them; who are they? What do they do? What are they looking for? What are their pain points in life? In business? In social situations? Ask yourself these questions and more so you can know where they are coming from, and give them the answers, even ones they don’t know they need yet.
2. Know what they want and what you have to do to fulfill that want:
This one is fairly straightforward, but also can’t be understated. Since you now know your users, you also understand what they want, and that want should ultimately be what you choose to offer.
3. Know where they are coming from:
There are a lot of different ways a user could end up on your site, and it’s useful to consider where they may be coming from so you can better understand what they might be looking for or what they want to see.
4. Have an end goal in mind:
The end goal is where you want to lead the user, it’s the conclusion of that story we talked about earlier that gets them what they want. Maybe it’s a sale, setting up a subscription, or signing up for a class. Whatever your end goal may be, everything else on your site should be pointing in that direction. All roads lead to the end goal.
Create A User Experience Map
How do they get from point A to point Z?
So now we know our users, we know what they want, where they might be coming from, and where we want them to end up. Great!
The question is, however, how do we get them there?
Well, we’re calling this “mapping your user experience” right? So let’s start mapping! Sit down sometime, and draw out the path your users will take to get to the end goal. Start from where they are coming from, and take them, step by step to the end. Is it too hard? Are there too many steps? Do they go to your home page and follow a link to your shop, pick out what they want, and press buy? Or do they come in from a landing page and learn more about your service?
These maps will be the basis for how we design the site itself, so we can make it as easy as possible for the user to follow the map and get to the other side happy.
Here are a few mapping examples:
Social Media > free course landing page > sign up > enter email drip sequence > come back and take classes > upsell at the end of course leading to signature package > landing page for package > purchase >email sequence for setting up signature package
Google > information blog post > call to action at the bottom > sign up for freebie download > thank you page with product offerings > check out a product > see the related products at the bottom > check out more products > purchase one
Good old pen and paper is a good way to do this, or you can use a program like Creately.
Note! Don’t expect them to jump into the deep end:
Say you offer services that range in price and quality, with some lower priced services and some higher priced. You shouldn’t expect your user to start with your most expensive, crazy amazing expensive package from the get-go, and whats more you shouldn’t ever pressure them too. That can be overwhelming for a customer who doesn’t know you and may not be what they need anyway.
It’s better to think of it like a funnel: at the top of the funnel, you may have a small service for 10$. This will be your most commonly purchased service, as it is the most affordable and may be useful for a wide range of people.
From that level, a lot of users will decide to try a larger service package, since they’ve tried your cheaper package and liked it.
Then from that level, some of the users need even more out of their service, and since they’ve been pleased with the previous two packages, they decide to try the next service. This continues all the way up to the most premium, crazy amazing expensive package you offer. So now you have this organic process of users trying you out, seeing what you can do, and working farther and farther up the ladder of service to the big thing, just like a funnel.
Now, some people don’t upgrade along the way, and stay at their level, and some will jump levels up and down. However, those who do follow the funnel have built up trust with you that can help them feel confident about investing with you long term.
Keep it simple and clear:
For as easy as it can be to not have enough content on a website, it can be just as easy to find yourself with the opposite problem. No one likes to open a site just to be bombarded with products, images, and massive boxes of text. You’ll want to keep your site simple and clear, so it’s easy for your visitors to know exactly where they want to go and how to get there.
Keys to User Experience
Finally, let’s discuss some of the finer points of user experience to keep in mind when creating your website.
1. Links, links, links! Links.
Buttons and hyperlinks are the doorways between your pages and should be everywhere so that it’s easy to get to wherever you are. We don’t want to end up trapped on a page due to a link that’s hidden just a little too well! Avoid cluttering your space with too many of these links, but keep your most important buttons at the top and at the bottom of a given page keeps those doorways within reach, without making it feel too full.
2. Your navigation menu is the key to getting anywhere, from everywhere on the site.
It’s essentially an overview of the whole website, so you’ll want a clear site structure here that’s easy to follow. Consider having this reflect your site map that you’ve made when you do this. Maybe your landing page is first, then an about or services page second, then the shop, and your contact page at the bottom.
3. Tell Your Story
While it is good to be simple and to the point, don’t forget that it’s your website! Been selling quality clothing for 10 years? Tell us your story! How did you get where you are today? What have you learned over the years? Get your information out there front and center, so you can let everyone know who you are and what you can do for them. People buy from people.
4. Be Graphic (but not the kind you’re thinking)
If you find yourself dragging on as you type, or if telling someone about your product just doesn’t seem as convincing, then show them instead! Include a graph showing your sales over the years, highlight a review left by a happy customer, or just show us a picture of your product. A picture is worth a thousand words, so be sure to use some of your space to show, rather than just tell.
5. Remember point Z isn’t actually the end!:
Although it is the last letter in the alphabet, it’s not necessarily the end of the story.
It’s helpful to refer again to the map that you’ve drawn out for yourself, because every page on your site should have a link to the next step in the process, even your thank you pages, payment confirmation, and emails pages. Every page should lead to the next so that, once again, your customer is being taken on a journey through your site that feels organic and convenient.
6. Ask other eyes to take a look.
Now that we’ve made our site all pretty and optimized, we should test it out to make sure it really works. Get friends and family to check out your site and take note of where they go and how they get there. Do they instinctively go to the shop because it’s obvious or do they stray towards your about me page because you are front and center? Did they get lost on the way to your super helpful amazing blog, or were they just trying to figure out where your contact information was?
Compare this to all the points laid out here and see if there’s anything you could improve upon based on what your friends do, and don’t forget to get their opinions as well!
Remember that in the end, it’s all about the user experience.
7. Continue improving.
Congrats! Your website is looking a whole lot better now that we’ve touched it up, but even that isn’t the end of the process. Websites aren’t a one and done thing. There’s always room for improvement and change in an online business setting, so every once and a while go back through this list, reconsider some of the points made and see if you can do anything new or different to improve on what you already have.
Have your friends and family review it again, or ask for feedback from your real users.
Remember, times change; Marketing strategy, the people who visit you, even the products you offer may change. Change can help your user experience, and on top of that, Google loves a site that updates regularly, and we all want to be on Google’s good side!
Bonus: is your email marketing included in your website?
You’ll notice it can play a huge role in engaging your audience and directing them places. It’s an excellent addition to any sales funnel strategy. Do you have the capacity to sign up for a newsletter on your site? More on that soon!
Conclusion: Good User Experience is Defined by the User
Maps get us where we need to be, and they apply to real life and to business as well. Mapping your user experience will ultimately help you, and the people who visit your site, to find the things they are looking for, and some of the things they didn’t know they were looking for. Keeping in mind who your customers are, what they need and what you can give them, where you want them to go and how to get them there, keeping your structure simple and straightforward, without placing too much pressure on the customer, and ensuring that no matter where they are, they know how to get to the next step, you can put all of that together to make sure that your site is organized, beautiful, and helpful.
So how is your user experience? Do you know how people find you and where they go from there? Do they?
Schedule a 1-hour consultation and we’ll help you map it out.