Coding a website for optimal performance

How to Optimize Your Website with the User in Mind

Unbeknownst to most people, your website can have a significant impact on whether users stay on it for long periods. Most people tend to design their websites according to what appeals to them. However, ask an expert, and they’ll tell you that’s the wrong approach.

Websites play a significant role in today’s ever digitalizing world. Whether you’re using your website for E-commerce purposes, affiliate marketing, or some other reason, you’ll want to ensure your website’s primary goal is catering to your audience. Therefore, you’ll want to ensure that you’re privy to what your audience likes and dislikes. In addition, some research exists on the matter that could help you optimize your website to ensure it’s user-friendly.

For starters, research shows that it takes users approximately 50 milliseconds to decide whether they like your website enough to stay or not. Although people often say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, nothing’s protecting websites from such snap judgments. In addition, studies also show that 85 percent of adults think a website should be as good, if not better, on a mobile device as its desktop counterpart. Therefore, you’ll also need to make sure your website functions smoothly on a mobile device.

Now, you might be wondering how you can optimize your website with the users in mind. However, there’s no cause for concern because we’ve got you covered.

How to Optimize Your Website for the User

There are several ways to optimize your website for the user. They include:

User Intent

You’ll want to start by understanding user intent. It’s only natural that people will be accessing your website for different reasons. Typically, there are groups of users that you should know. They include informational users, educational users, and transactional users. Each category of users has differing intent that you’ll need to understand to cater to them.

Informational users are people looking to get more information about your product, company or researching for a way to contact you. On the other hand, educational users are looking to learn about industry-specific topics. Finally, you’ve got transactional users who are ready to purchase. One of the best ways to design your website is to have categories in your site’s navigation bar for each of them. Your company’s “about us” page will appeal to the informational users, while your educational users will want to be redirected to your blog. In addition, you’ll need to include your services in the navigation bar for transactional users.

Website Loading Speed

In addition to user intent, you’ll also want to work on your website’s loading speed. Let’s be real no one enjoys sitting patiently, waiting for a website to load. Statistics show that 47 percent of users expect a maximum of 2 seconds loading time for an average website. Therefore, if your website takes more than two seconds to load, you’ve already alienated almost half your users. You’ll want to ensure that your website loads quickly because slow-loading websites can significantly set you back. Research shows that slow-loading websites cost retailers $2.6 billion in lost sales annually. Hence, you’ve got to optimize your website to load instantly.

Mobile-Friendly Design

Research shows that over half of web traffic originates from a mobile device. You’ll want to ensure that your website loads efficiently on a mobile device. You can use Google Chrome Developer Tools to check if your website loads suitably on all devices. You’ll need to make sure that your website design is mobile-friendly. Otherwise, not only do you risk alienating more than half your userbase, but you’re also likely going to end up ranking low in search engine rankings.

A team collaborating on website design

Optimize Your Website with the Assistance of a Digital Marketing Solutions Provider

Wyred Insights is a digital marketing agency providing digital solutions to businesses. Whether you’re looking for web design services or SEO services, we’ve got you covered. Visit our website for more information, or get in touch with us today.

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