Am I User-Friendly?

Last updated February 18, 2024 | Reading Time: 2 min 16 sec

(Original Post)

A Look at Best Practices

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Content marketing has become integral to a successful business strategy in today’s digital world. Undoubtedly, blogging is a potent tool for businesses to establish a robust online presence. Blogs are an excellent source of informative and thought-provoking content on various products, processes, and ideas. They help businesses to expand their reach and establish themselves as experts in their industry without resorting to hard-selling tactics. However, with the vast amount of information available on the internet, keeping readers engaged and interested is a challenging task. But fear not, as there are several ways to make your website more appealing.

Website Design

Websites must be easy to navigate and visually appealing, with readily available and concise information. Written content needs to be engaging and entertaining, with reviews or personal opinions from others to help consumers make informed decisions. Including audio or video clips can help keep customers engaged. People often look for trusted sources to confirm the quality of a product, person, or idea before purchasing an item or following someone. Additionally, consumers value sharing their opinions and feedback to feel heard and understood.

An engaging and well-designed website is crucial in today’s business landscape. According to Forbes Advisor, there are best practices that help you achieve optimal results. These include defining your website’s purpose, selecting the most appropriate platform, optimizing your content to ensure a seamless user experience, and regularly updating your website based on current business operations, trends, and performance. (Jolaoso, 2024).

Since more people access the internet from smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices than desktop computers these days, your website must be used on multiple browsers and accessible to everyone. Forbes recommends best practices for mobile web design, including content optimization and selecting “mobile-responsive templates or themes,” to name two. (Kenny, 2024).

Test your website before launching it to work out any potential kinks; this allows users the opportunity to add their two cents, which is vital since a website is really for them.

User Experience

Providing a positive User Experience (UX) is the key to success. To achieve this, it is essential to understand the challenges and expectations of end-users. Kristen Baker’s guide to user experience suggests that UX design has some core principles that remain constant despite changing trends and technologies, including “being contextual, being human, being findable, being easy, and being simple.” Users should never feel lost or overwhelmed when visiting a website. The experience should feel approachable, the site should be easy to navigate, and the information should be concise and straightforward. (Baker, 2018).

Search Engine Optimization

To improve the visibility of a business on search engines, consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The purpose of SEO is to rank a business on the first page of search engine results. On-page SEO uses keyword strategy, metadata, and creating high-quality content to optimize search results while Off-page SEO involves link building, social media marketing, email, and paid search marketing. Forbes suggests that optimizing user experience is essential for long-term online success. Improving page load speed, interactivity, visual stability and minimizing redirects are some ways to achieve this goal. (Forbes, 2022).

Conclusion

To succeed online, having a well-designed website with engaging content and a positive user experience is imperative. There are best practices that you can follow to optimize searchability, improve design, and increase customer satisfaction. Users today shop from their tablet or smartphone, so design with these channels in mind. Follow these practices to establish a solid online presence and attract more customers, helping your business grow.

Resource Material

Baker, K. (2018). The Ultimate Guide to Designing for the User Experience. hubspot.com. The Ultimate Guide to Designing for the User Experience (hubspot.com)

Forbes. (2022)Seven SEO Best Practices To Transform Your Business in 2022. Forbes.com. Seven SEO Best Practices To Transform Your Business In 2022 (forbes.com)

Jolaoso, C., Main, K. (2023) How To Design A Website (2024 Guide). Forbes Media LLC. How To Design A Website (2024 Guide) – Forbes Advisor.

Kenny, J. (2024). Mobile Website Design. Forbes Advisor, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/mobile-website-design/.