Your website visitors are busy. There's a good chance they have multiple tabs open and plenty of other things on their minds when they visit your site.
And, if, in the process of trying to take action on your site, they get confused, frustrated, or stuck, they are very likely to bounce.
In this post, I’m sharing some of the top ways you can make your website experience easier so you can boost your conversions and improve brand perception.
First, let's talk about why making your website easy to find, navigate, and understand matters.
According to Hick’s Law, a foundational UX Design principle, the time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
Meanwhile, the average time spent on a website is 52 seconds if you’re lucky.
These two ideas lead us to one very important conclusion: the easier you can make your website experience (meaning fewer distractions, less friction, and more clarity), the greater your chance of conversion.
Remember, your website is more than just a digital billboard; it's your primary online sales tool. By making things intuitive and clear, you can offer the right information at the right time so that your web visitors keep moving steadily toward the action you want them to take—whether that’s buying a product, registering for a program, or booking a discovery call.
Every business and website is different, but there are some overarching things to consider:
Streamline Your Site Navigation
A smartly organized navigation helps human users find what they need more quickly, all while helping search engines understand your site more effectively.
Think about how your visitors are most likely to interact with your site. Set up your navigation to help people get where they want to go in as few clicks as possible. Avoid situations where a visitor is unsure of which path to take.
Limit yourself to as few top-level navigation pages as is reasonable for your business, with at most seven pages across the top. Too many main navigation categories can overwhelm visitors.
Finally, resist the temptation to get creative with your navigation titles. Instead, think about how your customers speak and what they’d be looking for, and use your keyword research to create a clear navigation.
Prioritize Clarity
Visitors should be able to find the information they need throughout your site easily.
Stay away from jargon, abbreviations, and anything else that will lead to a mental stop for your reader. Remember, the more you speak your target audience's language, the more likely they will connect with your brand!
Identify one purpose for each page, section, sentence, and word—no more, no less! Following this rule gives focus to your writing and eliminates fluff.
For services, make your process and value clear. For products, highlight the benefits and what's included. In all cases, indicate pricing transparently to save visitors time and make them more confident about buying or booking.
Speak to All Types of Buyers
We’ve all heard that “no one reads anything anymore,” but it’s just not accurate.
Sure, if you’re in the early stages of exploring a new cleaning service or you’re about to buy a new hairdryer, you’re probably skimming and looking for the highlights.
But if you're about to pull out a credit card and invest in a big-ticket coaching program or high-priced service package, you'll likely read every word on that sales page.
The key to a successful website is writing to engage all stages of awareness and buyer personas. Some may just read the hero section, others may skim all the headlines, and still others (believe it or not) will read every. single. word.
Here are a few tips for catching them all:
Put the most crucial information above the fold.
Spend time on your headlines and subheadlines, and ensure that even if you only read those, you still understand the page's key points.
Anticipate questions and use the copy to offer answers proactively.
Use images, video, and comparison tables to make it easy to see the value of an offer.
Use typographical hierarchy and layout to make pages easily scannable.
Be Strategic With CTAs
A call-to-action or CTA refers to copy specifically designed to inspire the target audience to take an immediate desired action.
It's crucial that you identify the primary call to action for each page on your site. Remember, you want to make the CTA clear, and you don't want to offer too many competing options, as this risks giving your visitor decision-making paralysis.
Here are additional things to think about when writing, styling, and placing CTAs:
Use simple, value-focused, active language
Make it clear what will happen when they click.
Use contrasting color
Style your CTA as a button rather than just hyperlinked text
Create space in the design around the button so it stands out
Place your primary CTA button for a given page above the fold in the hero section
It can also be helpful to pair your CTA buttons with click triggers that minimize fear and promote confident action, such as testimonials, messaging that overcomes a common objection or communicates a guarantee, trust badges, or security icons.
Make Contacting You Simple
As a website user, I go bananas when I can't determine where a business is based. When you make your location hard to find, it can frustrate users or damage trust in your brand.
If you have a physical location, make the full address (and your business hours) easy to find. (Ex: 135 Main Street, Norton, MA 02712).
If you serve clients at their place of business, make your geographic service area clear. (Ex: Serving homeowners in the Greater Worcester area.)
If you are a digital service provider, you can still offer some insight into where you are based to give people the peace of mind that you are real and build connection. (Ex: Based in Boston, MA, and serving clients nationwide.)
Three smart places to include that location or service area info include your website footer, contact page, and about page.
Also, ensure that all your forms work correctly and are as simple to fill out as possible.
Find and Eliminate Sources of Friction
Create a process for regularly auditing your site for sources of friction and correcting them.
Here are some of the top things I see on websites that make visitors bounce and lose brands business:
Broken Links
Use a tool like brokenlinkcheck.com to locate any problem links on your site and then set up proper redirects.
Slow Loading Pages
If you have large image files or cumbersome code, your site's load time can lag. Use a tool like Google Page Speed Insights to find out how your site is doing and work with your developer to make fixes.
Poor Mobile Experience
Most web traffic is mobile; if your site needs to be optimized, this should be a top priority.
Accessibility Issues
Accessible design is a must for inclusive brands and to improve SEO. Make sure that your colors have enough contrast, that your text size is large enough, that there is enough space between elements, and that you include alt text for images.
Interruptions
Intrusive pop-ups, auto-playing videos, or sliders that web visitors can't control all risk distracting them from their experience of your site. When you trust in the quality of your message, you don't need aggressive tactics to get your reader's attention.
Ready to simplify?
Making your website easier to navigate, understand, and engage with is crucial for boosting conversions and enhancing brand perception.
When you put yourself in your visitors’ shoes, you’ll find ways to get clear, eliminate confusion and distraction, and create the best possible user experience!
Want more tips for improving the user experience on your website?
Check out this post all about building trust with your customers: