You may have noticed your website is getting plenty of traffic, whether that be from organic searches or other sources such as social media, but they are not leading to bookings or sales. This could be due to the user experience on your website, which plays a big part in the customer journey. If the customer does not have a good experience, say if they struggle to instantly find what they need, they may quickly leave your website. Here are a few things to consider when thinking about user experience.
Is your website easy enough for the user to navigate? One of the main reasons that your customers may not become conversions is simply because they cannot get to where they need. Whether you have a small or a large website, you have to take into consideration the journey that customers will take on your site. This is from the user initially landing on your website to getting to their final destination.
The first thing you should address is your main navigation. This tends to be the main menu that customers use to traverse your website. If this is not easily visible or simple to use then it may be difficult for users to find what they are wanting on your site, whether that be to find out further information or to make a purchase or booking. For desktop and wider screen sizes, the main navigation menu tends to be more of a traditional, structured approach whereas mobile and smaller screen sizes tend to adorn the hamburger menu approach. Read more about the various types of website navigation in our blog post on 'Is your website's navigation losing you, customers?'
Another method to help users get to the key areas of your website is by having clear call-to-action buttons on your homepage. These buttons can go to areas that are the most popular for users or areas that you would want to drive potential customers to, such as your booking page.
Once the customer has navigated to the desired area of your website, the next factor that may put them off booking could simply be the page content. The content of the pages should engage the customer whilst providing any vital information they may be looking for.
For example, hotel websites tend to have pages that feature information about the various room types. If a customer visits these pages they will expect the content to give them a clear visualisation of the room, which can be done by including a simple list of room features with high-quality images to accompany it. Imagery is especially important if you’re selling an experience, as it can help to trigger ‘FOMO’ and encourage people to make a booking. On this page, you would also want to feature a call to action link sending users directly to the booking area to successfully convert visitors into customers once they have perused the room types and come to a decision about paying the hotel a visit.
Another thing to consider is that your pages should not be too long. Too much content can make key information harder to find. Keeping pages relatively minimal can help the user absorb information easier.
Developments in website design and development over recent years have meant that most websites are mobile-friendly anyway, but it is still key to make sure that your website is optimised for use across multiple devices. Almost everyone has a smartphone or tablet with internet access these days so if your website struggles to retain users who are on a mobile device then you should consider why; it could be the structure of the website, the navigation, or even just the layout of your content. Making sure that your website works well for all devices and screen sizes can reduce the chance of losing a customer due to them not being able to use it on their current device.
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