If you’ve done any research about website conversion rates and stumbled across the term (or abbreviation) UX and you’re not a UX designer — chances are, your head spun a little bit.
UX — or User Experience — refers to the process of designing, in this case a website, with the end user’s experience in mind. To keep things simple, “The goal of UX design is to create easy, efficient, relevant and all-round pleasant experiences for the user.” (Emily Stevens via Career Foundry)
Simply put: When it comes to your website, UX focuses on your ideal client and how your website serves them.
The biggest thing that’s killing your website conversion rate in 2021?
Some classic examples of unintentional bad UX that we see all the time on websites:
Illegible fonts.
We get it — you want a cute font on your homepage that’s not as boring as Times New Roman or Calibri. But hear this: Those fonts are default fonts because they’re easy to read.
Because we know 43% of viewers are SKIMMING your content — your content needs to be SKIMMABLE.
This means ditching the all caps, cursive, and condensed fonts. It means you stop center justifying your text and prioritize function over what you think looks good. Amen?
Amen. Next.
Overcrowded homepages.
Trying to cram every piece of information about you or your brand onto the homepage is such a tempting trap. You want to make sure your ideal client or customer knows everything about you and how you can help them — so why not dump it all onto one page?
Yikes! Let us help steer you in the right direction here, okay? Think of your homepage as your first date… and alllllllll of that detail as your deepest, darkest secret. Don’t spill your guts before you establish some trust, deal?
Cluttered navigation menus.
As a general rule of thumb, the most amount of page options you want showcased in your navigation menu is seven. AND in a perfect world, you’d eliminate drop down menus from your nav menu too.
Still have pages you need to link beyond the magic number seven?
Prioritize and move your excess to a footer. Or find creative ways to link the overflow pages in other ways throughout your homepage.
No clear Value Proposition.
A prominently displayed Value Proposition (or Value Prop or VP) that answers the following questions for site visitors is crucial to a true user focused UX.
- What do you do?
- How can you uniquely help me?
- Why should I care?
Without this, site visitors are left stumbling around your site on a wild goose chase. And before that even happens? They leave.
No clear next step.
Value-based Calls-to-Action (CTAs) are crucial to giving people a clear next step for how they can get more of what you’re offering on your site.
Some of the most common highly effective CTAs we recommend on websites (depending on your specific funnel and goals) are:
- Newsletter opt-ins: Value-packed freebies that you “give away” in exchange for a site visitor’s email address.
- Book a Free Consult: Complimentary sessions (usually 30-45 minutes) with you or someone on your team to talk through the site visitor’s specific pain points and address how you are / your brand is uniquely positioned to help them.
With these options, you also create a real opportunity to connect with your site visitors.
Low quality photography.
We’ve perhaps ruffled the most feathers with this one and it’s usually because people feel the most sentimental attachments to their own photos. Typically, we tactfully tell clients that their low resolution photos make their website feel unprofessional and homemade — which may give the wrong impression to their ideal clients or customers.
We know this: People like to look at nice things. (Think perfectly curated Instagram feeds…)
Investing in high quality photos with a brand photoshoot or using free stock photo websites like Unsplash or Pixabay can be quick ways to remedy the issue and improve UX.
No brand cohesion.
Websites that have a million different font types, 13 different colors and no clear messaging are screaming, “I don’t know what I’m doing!” to your site’s visitors.
Before you design your website, be sure to think thoughtfully and strategically about your brand — not just your visual identity (like your colors and logos), but your brand messaging too.
- Who are you trying to reach?
- What are their pain points and what language would they use to describe them?
- What’s your mission? Your vision?
- What are your Brand Values?
- What separates you from your competitors?
To connect with a strategic marketing partner who understands startups and the unique challenges you face in developing a website that converts, book a free Discovery Call with Carter House Copy today.
