Why User Experience (UX) is important to your web site

As a business with an online presence, you have heard from all the reputable sources that SEO is a key part of your business. Internet and search marketing also play a huge role in building a successful business. We cannot deny the importance of good search engine optimization and a strong supporting campaign. These are the things that will pull customers to your website. However, what does your website say once your customer arrives? Generally more important than the information itself is how the end user access it.

User experience is what will keep your customers both happy and returning. Now, more than ever, users engage with their favorite brands through the internet. Your customers are not just using your websites they are reviewing them and sharing their experiences with the world at large through the power of social media. To disregard this is a huge misstep that may cost you customers and eventually your business. Gone are the days when you only needed to focus on creating a visually appealing website, now it needs to be easy to navigate as well.

The design of a website’s navigation has a bigger impact on success or failure than almost any other factor. It affects traffic and search engine rankings. It affects conversions and user-friendliness. Yes, marketing is about differentiation, but your navigation style isn’t the place to do it. Your goal is to help people find your content, not show them a new way to get around a website. Website navigation mistakes are expensive and avoidable. One mistake could affect both search rankings and user friendliness.  

The data shows that user experience is a key differentiator between business that succeed and those that fail. Customer happiness is a leading indicator of the future health of any company. If you are making people happy, and continually invest and innovate to make people happy, then they will keep giving you their money for your product or service. It’s such a simple equation that it goes without saying, and because it goes without saying it is often forgotten. Make your website experience work well for both human visitors and search engine programs. Your customers and your analytics will thank you for it!