Here at Catch22 Marketing, every decision we make when creating a website is driven by user experience. According to a report published by The Gomez, Why Web Performance Matters, 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad user experience.

So what is user experience (UX) design really? The dictionary defines UX as the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.

UX Motel states that every $1 invested in UX can have a return of up to $100 for your business. Below are our 7 simple user experience rules to follow.

Don’t make the users think.

Steve Krug might have summed up UX the best when he published this statement as his first law of usability. Strive to make your website self-explanatory to the user. When they can’t easily find the information they’re looking for, they will find it somewhere else. (Here you can learn our best practices for creating an effective homepage.)

Use your words effectively.

Your website is a great opportunity to really speak to your users in their language. Be clear and concise with objective words – skip promotional tones and exaggerated advertising. In addition, most users won’t be interested in reading a long block of text, so make sure that your content is easy to scan and still get the point.

Do your research.

This one generally goes without saying. How can you create an amazing website that effectively targets your key customers without actually learning their habits and interests? Creating personas determines the user’s needs, goals and challenges. Always start by asking yourself what the user would want.

Remember that white space is your friend.

This might easily be the most important aspect of good user experience design. When a user visits a website for the first time, they need to be able to easily digest the content. White space helps reduce the cognitive load. Although there are no set guidelines for how to use whitespace, a good rule of thumb is that if a page looks crowded, it probably is.

Create quality forms.

Forms are a crucial part of creating returning customers. Although a short form may attract more people to submit their information, the leads you’re generating might only be one-time users. It’s fine to ask for more information as long as your questions directly correlate to what your users are getting in return. Check out Hubspot’s The 5 Critical Components of Fantastic Lead-Capture Forms for more great tips.

Make it responsive.

With the majority of users accessing content on their mobile devices, it’s vital that your website looks and functions great on any device. This generally means simplifying your content on mobile so that your user can access what they need more easily.

Test and repeat.

Usability testing provides crucial insights into whether or not your website has problems. According to UltraLinx, 85% of UX problems can be solved by testing even just 5 users. This doesn’t mean you and four of your co-workers. It’s best to find people who have never seen your website, or even people who have never heard of your business. Having fresh eyes on your site will allow you to really see how your customers will interact with it, and if their clicking on what you want them too.

Creating an excellent user experience takes time and effort. But, understanding your customer’s needs and allowing that insight guide your design choices will help develop a much stronger trust between you and your users. And, that will ultimate produce more leads and better inquiries.

Thanks for reading! Check back next Thursday for more tips on creating effective UX design for mobile.