How to make your website more user-friendly

As technology advances, more and more people prefer to do all their business solely online. That means that your website has to be user-friendly, otherwise you will lose out to your competition.

With so many new online shops and services opening up every day, competition is fierce, and having a completely user-friendly website can set you apart from the rest.

Mobile friendly

Over half of all online searches now come from a mobile device which means that if your website is not mobile friendly it is not user-friendly, and you will definitely lose out on customers and the revenue that they could bring you. It’s important to ensure that whether someone is looking at your website from a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone, their experience is the same and that it is flawless. They should be able to switch between devices seamlessly, and not notice the difference. If you’re not sure how to make your website mobile friendly, then it’s important to speak to a web designer who will be able to advise you.

Be informative

If someone has to pick up the phone to ask you a question because they can’t find the information already on your website, you’ll lose sales. Firstly, you don’t want to spend all day on the phone when your website is meant to be doing your selling for you. Secondly, if someone just wants to purchase something quickly, they’re not going to take the time to call you up – they’ll just hop onto the next website that tells them what they need to know. Don’t bombard your potential customers with lots of words and too much technical detail, but do make sure that there is enough information available for them to make an informed choice. A good compromise is to add download specification sheets to your site. That way, if someone does need more information, they can quickly download a file.

Make ordering online easy and safe

If you are able to sell your products and services online, then you should do so. This is what the majority of people want when they are looking at a website. People enjoy shopping online because they’re not limited by shop opening hours, and they don’t have to speak to anyone to place an order. Bear this in mind and make the online buying process as easy as possible. You will also need to make sure it is safe and secure, so that people feel happy to input their payment details. Using a payment service provider that has great security and plenty of other features including a payment gateway that will protect you as well as the customer is the best way to do this.

Include a search option

A user-friendly website is one that allows the visitor to find what they want as easily as possible. If you have a lot of products and services, or plenty of information, finding that one thing might be difficult. If you have a search box on your website, you’ll save your customer a lot of time and effort because they will be able to find exactly what they want quickly.