When you’re browsing this wonderful thing we call the ‘Internet’ – whether searching for information or shopping online – you probably come across one or two websites that make your skin crawl and your eyes bleed.
The culprit behind this is probably (definitely) bad user experience of UX.
Now imagine that same experience for customers of yours who come to your website and for some inexplicable reason – they leave without buying anything. Surprised? Well you shouldn’t be – your website most likely sucks. Yes, I said it with full knowledge that we are using a template web design for Tech Collective.
But read the words with the right intent and you should be led in the right direction. Here are a few UX reasons why people hate your website.
Way too many ads
Ads provide revenue, but to get them to provide you with revenue, your visitors have to stay on the website and click through. So be smart about it and always display ads in the sidebar or bottom of the page. Too many ads increase your bounce rate and ruins everyone’s experience.
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Your website is too complex
Any site that is difficult to navigate or confuses you, will lead to a high bounce rate. While being creative with your website is great, take it too far can impact your visitor’s experience. In fact, try not to change the primary site layout and stick to the basics so that people who visit your site can find the most relevant information in the quickest way.
Your website is really slow
No one likes to wait, so having a website that loads really slow can be really irritating. This is often caused by two major issues:
- A bad hosting service
- Too many high-res images that are not optimised
Really bad or misleading copy
‘Clickbaity’ titles and ads can drive traffic, but visitors will be disappointed when they reach your website and it does not match their expectations. Always match your titles or ads to the website copy, so you generate genuine traffic that has a higher chance to convert.
It isn’t optimized for mobile
When browsing the internet on your brand new smartphone, have you ever been forced to scroll from side-to-side on a website or struggle to navigate a home page? Sometimes the text is too small for mobile, so reading an article hurts your eyes? Websites that are not optimised for mobile will lose over half of their traffic if they do not change.
You over-use pop-ups
Excessive pop-ups can disrupt anyone’s experience on a website, especially when they do not offer you value to your current journey on the website. No one want to be guilt-tripped to sign up for a newsletter. However, pop-ups are important, but if used in the right way:
- Use them in moderation
- Make them relevant, so the CTA is relevant to current user journey and that offers them a reason to convert
- Track your pop-ups, because if it is not converting then you should definitely edit or remove it from your website
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It auto plays everything…
There are some jobs that frown upon personal browsing during work hours, so silent browsing is crucial. Having a song or jingle blast your your computer’s speakers can ruin someone’s experience – both online and offline.
Besides fumbling for the mute button, the most likely option is to leave the website. This can be very frustrating and often doesn’t really add value to your visitor’s experience. If you must have a video or audio on the page, make it a playable feature, so the users can choose to listen to it or not.