It takes days or even months to find a good customer — and less than one second to lose them, especially in eCommerce.

It’s a harsh reality that has been evident to businesses within each sector over the years, from the days defined by brick and mortar to the evolution of big-box retail and superstores. Now, again with the rise of e-commerce, the task of providing a great customer experience has gone online.

When you can’t provide an excellent customer experience with a handshake and a smile, how do you ensure your consumers are getting what they need? But even more importantly, how can you build a base of loyal consumers and ensure they return for more?

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Improving User Experience On Your Website

Your website is the primary way in which your online customers interact with your brand. As a result, reaching more potential customers and increasing your web traffic does you little good if the first thing your customers experience is a poorly designed website that is difficult to access. Poor web design can lead to an unreasonably high bounce rate — losing the customers you worked so hard to reach within seconds.

So, how can you endeavor to provide a great user experience? In the digital age, web design means so much more than giving a beautiful, professional-looking website — although these aspects can help keep potential customers on your page. Web design can also help you improve user experience by utilizing these simple fundamental techniques:

Ensure your website is optimized for mobile.

The importance of mobile compatibility was first highlighted by Google’s Mobilegeddon in 2015 — the algorithm update that prioritized sites that provided a mobile-friendly experience. However, building a mobile-responsive website has only grown more critical as an increasing number of users choose to shop online via mobile. With over 60% of US residents making at least one purchase via mobile this year, you must ensure your site makes it all possible.

Address page load speeds.

If your page takes a lengthy period to load, you could very well be losing customers; in fact, 53% of page visits are terminated if the page takes more than three seconds to load. To help page speed, optimize images, minify coding, and reduce your usage of other large items that serve to increase your page load time. Decreasing your load time — and increasing your load speeds — helps your customers get to your most important site features more efficiently and reduces abandonment and is one of the most important ways that you can improve user experience across your website.

Ensure your page showcases your eCommerce brand identity.

As you built your company, you undoubtedly constructed an overarching brand identity that carried through to all aspects of your business. Visitors to your website should immediately recognize your brand, as well as the purpose of your page, which is to provide information about your product or service. When branding is absent, or when poor design creates a cluttered website with an unclear purpose, users won’t proceed to the next step in your sales funnel and may move onto their next purchase option.

Utilize intuitive page design.

The purpose of web design is to lead a customer through a natural progression on your page, ultimately promoting a purchase or other conversion. Locating your most essential page functions in their usual positions — including your contact information in the upper right, home button in the upper left, and a navigation menu at the top of the page — makes this process as easy as possible for the user. In turn, this effort improves your customers’ experience.

Break up page content.

The vast majority — some 84% of users — will not read your page content word for word. To make your page easier to read and improve the customer experience, while ensuring your audience receives your most important information, create scannable content. Break your content into blocks that highlight the most crucial pieces clearly and concisely.

Add space for reviews.

Nearly 70% of users want to read at least one review or customer testimonial before making a purchase, and many of those view an online review as just as necessary as a recommendation from a friend or family member. However, you don’t want your users to have to travel off-site to read honest reviews of your product — they may not return. Incorporating a review or testimonial section keeps users on your page while improving customer experience.

Provide customer service

Including relevant, updated contact information and placing it prominently on all the pages of your website is essential to maintaining communications with your customers. However, don’t miss the opportunity to provide excellent customer service directly on your page. Implementing a live chat tool can help provide customers with timely answers to their questions and continue their move toward conversion with the impression that you care about their experience on your site.