With the digital space we market on constantly stepping things up a notch, it can seem difficult to stay on top of the latest strategies and tactics for website optimisation. One thing is for certain, you won’t get left behind if your site is catered toward your audience. Forget all the technical jargon for a minute and remember – websites are used by people like you and so they should be designed around human behaviour. Yes, they should have SEO keywords and the right words, but they need to be user-friendly.
It’s time to worry less about keywords and more about user experience. This way you are more likely to meet your website visitors’ expectations, receive positive engagement and motivate online consumers to make the decision and click on “Buy Now” or “Contact Us”.
Here are three ways that you can use human behaviour insights to make more effective website content and a website that is enjoyed by online visitors:
Understand User Intent
When thinking of your actual web pages, each of them should have a purpose and you need to be able to state what you want the user to do on each page they land on. As a rule, every page should have a primary and at most two secondary intents. Any more and your content will be confusing to follow.
For instance, the intent of an ‘About Us’ page is straightforward and informs the user about who you are as a business. The secondary intent on this page would typically be getting the viewer to get in touch with you and subscribe to your newsletter. The website design will then incorporate forms and buttons that comply with this intent.
By understanding user intent, you will be able to generate useful content that is both what viewers want and pushes for the engagement you want. First review your site and ask questions such as:
- If I was a user, what would I expect to find on this page?
- As a business owner what do I want my viewers to do on this page?
- What else are users doing on this page?
Finding the balance between your business needs and the needs of your audience will be a challenge but the payout will be worth the investment of optimising your user experiences.
Make It Faster
As attention spans shrink, web development companies in Adelaide are encouraging businesses to speed things up. Make sure that your website is optimised in terms of load times and throw in some videos, which are quicker to absorb than reading paragraphs of text, and include easily-scannable content. This isn’t to say that longer written content is dead, some do follow what is written but it’s always better to be inclusive and offer a little bit of everything. Making things faster means that special attention needs to be given to the user experience leading up to the content so that it is as fast and efficient as it can be. Fast to load, even faster to absorb and go through!
Guide The Viewer
The layout and design of your web pages will determine whether or not users interact with each and every one of them. Understanding how users prefer to view a website and go through it will help you create a website that supports longer user experiences on your website.
The two standard scanning patterns on webpages will depend on the amount and type of content being displayed.
- The ‘F’ pattern – This pattern closely matches a ‘reading pattern’ as users scan over text-heavy content.
- The ‘Z’ pattern – When content is structured and contains a lot of images, this pattern is seen as viewers scan across the page searching for spots which typically reveal logos, menus and buttons on web pages. The main body of the content will sit centrally as users scan across and over it repeatedly.
By understanding these patterns, you will be able to create a design that will make your content more effectively observed and that will deliver content elements where users expect them to be. If you base your designs off of these fundamental scanning patterns, you will make your audience’s experience easier and more enjoyable; effectively ensuring longer sessions and increased chances of conversion.
Testing, Testing, Testing
Lastly, viewers won’t always act the way you expect them to. This is where a follow-up to the above guides is needed, i.e. A/B testing. Through this you will be able to explore specific parts of the user experience and use data to decide on the directions you need to take to make your website that much more user-friendly.
Optimising your web pages for your audience means understanding them and remembering that they are people visiting for a reason. The better you can meet their expectations, the better your site and content will perform.
Not sure where to get started? Get in touch with Adelaide Web Design today for a consultation from one of the top web development companies in Adelaide. We only design user-friendly sites, so we’ve got you covered!