Whether or not users can use your website is the main factor that determines whether it succeeds or fails.
This is commonly known as the usability of your website.
It seems obvious: people won’t do what you want them to do, which is to purchase items, subscribe to services, make phone calls, etc., if they can’t accomplish it.
However, a lot of businesses just build websites, web apps, e-newsletters, etc., and expect that the changes will benefit their business because websites are so simple to modify.
The usual cause of this confusion is a lack of precise understanding of the operation of your website.
How effectively, for instance, does your website turn visitors into customers?
What are the most important choices that users of your website have to make?
Do you provide them with the knowledge and resources they need to make those choices?
This article will assist you in concentrating on three tried-and-true methods for enhancing the functionality of your website: personas, usability testing, and website analytics.
It’s clearly up to you how exactly you decide to put these strategies into practice.
One thing is certain, though: using all three strategies can help you better understand the requirements, desires, and behaviors of the individuals who visit your website.
If you want to maximize the usability of your website in order to accomplish your objectives, this knowledge is essential.
Track Development using Web Analytics
Many businesses install a generic “website statistics” tool by accident, only to receive a set of generic reports.
These reports usually don’t offer much assistance in determining the actual efficacy of your website.
Do you want to start building your own website’s analytics right away?
Simply adhere to these three easy steps:
Start with your goals and work your way toward the end.
Specify the goals of your website marketing plan (e.g., “Maximize the quantity of eligible leads originating from online search engines”) and the actions you want website users to take in order to achieve those goals (e.g.View our listing in Google’s top 10 results, then click on it.
Keep an eye on how visitors are acting on your website.
Keep track of the number of distinct visitors you receive as well as their length of stay (including the number of pages they see).
As more people visit your website and spend more time there, you want all of these metrics to rise.
You’re increasing the likelihood that they’ll follow through on your requests.
Improve your rate of conversion.
Keep track of the number of visitors who complete the main task you want them to undertake, then compare it to the total number of visitors.
This aids in figuring out your conversion rate.
For instance, your conversion rate for information requests is 15% if 15 out of 100 visitors ask for additional information from you (and that is one of your goals).
After you’ve set up these essential website metrics, you can begin to refine your tracking and search for patterns to target with optimization.
Here are two illustrations:
Assume, for the moment, that conversion rates are higher on weekends.
Then, you may want to allocate a larger portion of your weekend budget to internet advertising while keeping your weekday spending lower.
Assume that your website needs more traffic and that you want to raise your ranks in search results by implementing an SEO campaign.
After that, you can monitor whether the actions of your project are bringing in more or less visitors.
Whatever your goals, starting with strong website analytics is the first step towards achieving website usability.
How come?
Because website analytics make you determine which areas are most important and how well you are performing in them.
Knowing this gives you important information with which to focus your efforts and identify the most beneficial areas for things like usability testing.
Make use of UX testing
When you conduct usability testing, you actually see users of your website as they navigate it.
But, usability testing doesn’t have to be pretentious or official; you can get feedback from folks at Starbucks or in a research facility.
Thus, use caution when working with a specialist who appears to be making the testing procedure difficult or expensive.
Usually, the only motivation behind someone doing this is personal financial benefit.
Simply follow these 5 steps to execute a usability test successfully:
Specify your goals.
Start with the goal in mind.
What are the objectives of this usability test?
Do you wish to make improvements to any particular section of your website?
If so, this is a fantastic approach to obtaining suggestions for improving those areas.
Will you be launching a new section of your website?
Before the big launch, a usability test is an excellent way to conduct a “trial run.”
Get the players involved.
This is the portion of the test that will require the most time and may cause you the greatest frustration.
Finding participants is the first step (which can be challenging, especially if you need to match participants’ demographic characteristics), and scheduling them comes next.
Then, some will be excellent test subjects, others will cancel, and some won’t show up.
Speaking with the person in person multiple times over the phone is the best approach to getting a sense of who they are.
TIP: Don’t forget to give them a call the day before the exam to remind them about it.
Write out the test.
A post-test survey, the test script, and an introduction script are all necessary.
The introduction script functions as a to-do list of topics you should make sure to discuss with the subject before the test begins.
TIP: Reiterate that any feedback is constructive and attempt to concentrate on making the person feel at ease enough to share their thoughts during the section.
A checklist of the actual tasks you want the subject to complete makes up the test script, which is in the following section.
The post-test survey comes next, where you can ask the subject questions and then compare the responses to what they said throughout the test.
Run the experiment.
The best part is here!
The individual and you sit down and go over the exam scenario together.
While close “hand holding” is beneficial for certain tests, letting the subject do whatever they believe is right is beneficial for other tests.
It is entirely dependent on the goals and the data you hope to gather.
The best course of action in either scenario is to capture the individual and their actions on a computer.
TIP: Don’t forget to give the individual payment for their time.
Summarize the outcomes.
There are two best ways to present the results:
First, as soon as possible following the test, write a brief summary of each session—one page or less.