9 Essential Tips for Designing a User-Friendly Website for Your Business
Updated February 2024
Are You Looking to Enhance Your Online Presence?
Welcome to our informative blog post on user-friendly business web design! Are you a business owner, entrepreneur, or professional looking to enhance your online presence? Look no further; we provide valuable tips and insights to help you create a user-friendly business website design that meets and exceeds user expectations.
In this post, we will guide you through the essential elements and strategies needed to develop a website that is visually appealing, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Join us as we exploreuser-friendly business web design and unlock the potential for increased customer satisfaction and business success. Let’s dive in!
Having a User-Friendly Website is Not an Option, It Is a Must!
I hold seminars to help business owners build better websites. Generally, I focus on creating a website that supports your business objectives, a challenge for most small business owners. Instead of going into the technical details, I want to explain why user-friendly business web design is key to growing your business.
Many small business owners fall into two main categories. A few spend much time, effort, and money on making their business website gorgeous, embracing the latest techniques, and making it pop visually. They treat it more like a creative project than a marketing tool.
Other small business owners just want to get something up quickly and cheaply. They spend little or no thought on user-friendly business web design, which is usually very apparent. I am sure you know of a few business websites like that yourself.
Focus on Your Target Consumer
The main issue that both groups tend to forget is that it doesn’t matter how pretty or straightforward your business website is. If your website visitors can’t use it or find the info they’re looking for, they will simply leave. It’s not user-friendly when your target audience gets annoyed and frustrated while using your website. So that is what you need to avoid!
Unless you create a website for artistic purposes or personal reasons rather than real business usability, user-friendliness, and efficiency must be your top priorities. Therefore, here are some strategies to apply to your business web design. Following these tips to create a user-friendly business web design will give you a faster and more user-friendly website.
9 Tips for User-Friendly Business Web Design
Speed is Key
In 2024, website speed will not just be a technical concern but also a pivotal factor in user experience and SEO. By prioritizing and optimizing the speed of your website, you can improve user engagement, increase your search rankings, and ultimately drive success in the digital landscape.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that site speed affects conversion rate (or the rate at which users complete a desired action). Not only do more users stay on fast-loading sites, but they also convert at higher rates compared to slower sites.
Make sure that your business website loads quickly. First, check your page load speed using a tool like Google’s Page Speed Tool, GTMetrix, or Pingdom. Here are a few strategies for reducing your page load speed. You may need help from a professional web designer to help you with this part.
Use Visual Triggers
Eye-tracking software like Hotjar discovered that depending on the information on your page, users would generally scan it in either a ‘Z’ or an ‘F’ pattern. The former is valid for more visual pages and the latter for more text-rich pages. Viewers start at the top left and scan across the top, then either go straight down or go across and down.
They will lock onto the first thing that seems to fit what they’re looking for, and if it’s a link, generally click on it. That means that your most important information should be at the top. Your text should be bullet-pointed and easily scanned if you have text-rich pages. A very effective way to increase user engagement is to use bold visual elements to trigger reactions and responses.
Create Bite-Sized Content
Mobile consumers do not read website content. They scan content for the info they need or want to find. They will first explore pictures and other visual cues to see if they contain the necessary information. Only after that will they go for text. The denser the text, the more hesitant they are about approaching it.
So, if you want to provide your mobile users with a user-friendly business web design, break your content into bite-size chunks. Bonus points if you use many striking images, bold design elements, bright colors, and similar design elements.
Keep Text Legible
One of the least user-friendly aspects of business web design is illegible text! You know what I mean. I am talking about serif fonts with the little curly bits sticking out above and below the line. Moreover, instructions in more accessible fonts seem more understandable and less complicated.
Avoid tiny font sizes or fonts that are relatively small to start. I recommend starting with a 14pt font size and going from there. A legible font can make a big difference if you want people to consume your content and follow your call to action. Make sure you have enough contrast between your text and page background!
Use Multiple Fonts
I just mentioned that your website visitors are likelier to skim and scan your content than read it. Your business website is not a book, so stop treating it like one. To aid the viewer, use different types of text in different places. One example is to use one font for your titles and headlines and another for your body copy. Check out all the available options on Google Fonts.
Be Bold!
If something is noteworthy, bold, underline, or italicize it. That way, it will be much easier for the user to spot. Similarly, make sure to use bold, easily understood headings and bullet points wherever you can.
And use short paragraphs with spaces between them! There is no reason to have big, dense blocks of text on web pages where space is virtually free. I recommend you keep text blocks to around 4 or 5 lines. Anything longer may not get read.
Make Effective Use of Color
Color is one of the most effective ways to achieve a user-friendly business web design. So don’t limit yourself to black and white unless that is your design preference. Instead, use color to mark different areas and get different points across. Of course, it helps actually to know how different colors will affect your audience. Otherwise, you could end up creating a big, colorful mess!
Make it Pop!
One key strategy for creating a user-friendly business web design is to “Go Bold, or Go Home!” The bolder and more visually exciting your web design elements are, the quicker they will catch the eyes and draw attention. This should also be what is most vital about your page.
If you’re selling something, for example, don’t make the ‘Free Shipping’ or “Spring Sale” statement the most prominent visual element; this approach is especially common in ads. Instead, your “Buy Now” or “Order Now” button should be the primary focus of your site. Adding a sense of urgency, such as the word “Now” or the phrase “Limited Time” can be very useful as well.
Keep it Simple
I frequently that the average goldfish has a longer attention span than the average human! You must first focus on the essentials to get the most user-friendly business web design. Quickly grab your visitors’ attention and then entice them to explore more.
Business owners and marketers frequently ignore this straightforward strategy. Business websites cram too many menu items into their top bar and too much text onto their screen. It’s much better to try to be a bit more minimalist. Place text content either further down, where they can scroll to it, or on other pages – provided they load up quickly.
Don’t Hide Content
So-called peek-a-boo content is one of the most significant setbacks to user-friendly business web design. If visitors can’t even find your content, what exactly are you expecting them to do? Maybe they will call your business to ask for instructions? No, that is not a very likely scenario, is it?
If your site visitors must dig through multiple layers to get to your information, they’ll get annoyed. And that means they probably abandon the effort altogether. So ensure your site architecture allows them to get anywhere within one or two clicks.
Simple site architecture is beneficial not only for your human visitors but also for your human visitors. It makes scanning your page and discovering the content easier for Google and other search engines. Simplicity helps search engines to index your pages better and help searchers find your content more quickly. Higher search rankings and user satisfaction are what you are after, correct?
Making Your Business Website User-Friendly
A well-designed and regularly updated website can engage visitors by providing relevant and exciting content, interactive elements, and a user-friendly interface. In 2024, with the increasing use of mobile devices, websites will need to be more responsive and mobile-friendly to ensure high engagement rates.
A user-friendly website that is accessible to everyone can help increase engagement and conversions and build brand reputation and loyalty. By providing a positive experience for all users, businesses can create a sense of inclusivity and demonstrate their commitment to diversity and accessibility.
I am sure you are aware of this already. Simply look at pages with dated, old content, such as many university and government pages. These pages look staid and decidedly not user-friendly. By extension, your business will come across as out-of-date as well.
By failing to incorporate user-friendly business web design, you give your visitors a low opinion of you and the information or product you’re trying to share with them. And that results in a much lower conversion rate. Don’t fall into a trap that is so easily avoidable. Take the time to meet your user expectations by including these user-friendly business web design strategies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, prioritizing user experience over flashy design elements is crucial for businesses aiming to meet user expectations. Business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals can create user-friendly websites that engage their audience by implementing these simple tips.
Don’t settle for a website that falls short of user expectations – take action today and ensure your online presence leaves a lasting impression. Contact us for more information and start delivering an exceptional user experience now.
Do You Need Help with User-Friendly Business Web Design?
Do you need to improve the user experience on your website or online store? Our team of professional designers will be happy to help you with this. But first, look at our portfolio and read our case studies.
Then, if you believe we are a good fit for your business web design needs, let’s talk! We offer a full range of consulting and design solutions for businesses and product brands.
And if you are still unsure how to build a successful website, let’s talk. We will listen to you, answer your questions, determine what type of website will best support your business objectives, and build a user-friendly website or e-commerce store for your company or product brand.
Did You Build a User-Friendly Business Website?
Did you build your business website? Did you ensure it was user-friendly and met mobile user expectations? Do you have anything to add to our user-friendly business web design tips?
Please leave your comments below so our audience can benefit! And help other business owners get an excellent business website without going through the DIY business website design pains by sharing this post with them!
For more content relevant to your business or product brand – check out the range of articles on our web design blog. (This one, explaining the importance of user experience in web design, is an excellent place to start!)
Thank you! We appreciate your help to end bad business websites, one pixel at a time!
By Gregor Saita
Co-Founder / CXO
@gregorsaita