As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” When it comes to a company’s website (often a prospect’s first experience with your organization), making a good impression is critical. In terms of website design and user experience (UX), focus on making a website appealing and easy to use. Think about how visitors first experience your website. Is it attractive, professional, simple to navigate, well-organized, full of resources and interactive?

If you aren’t convinced that your website’s UX is important, consider these facts:

• 88 percent of online shoppers say they won’t return to a website after a bad user experience.
• Visitors form 75 percent of their judgement of a website simply based on its appearance.
• 94 percent of people don’t trust outdated websites.

Website design, structure, graphics and content trends have changed over time. Updating a website to maximize the user experience should take front and center stage. Therefore, ensure you are putting your best foot forward. That’s why companies need to commit the time and resources required to better engage their audiences and provide them with the best-in-class experience they seek.

How to Maximize Website UX

When it comes to your website, consider the following strategic activities to maximize UX.

1. Invest in user research to understand your website audience and target markets. Make sure you know what your audience’s needs, challenges and preferences are. Dr. Eric Schaffer, UX expert and founder of Human Factors International, says it’s essential to take a strategic approach to understanding your customers. “Your UX practitioners need to do strategic activities that look at the relationship of the user of the company…The first thing we need to do is say, ‘what is the relationship between the company and their customers that make it special?’ That means first defining the emotional connection you’re making with customers.” To better understand your customers and other target audiences, utilize market research, data collection and analytics to gather information about the needs, wants and pain points of your ideal prospects and customers. Then develop your website with those buyer personas in mind to engage them and guide them through the sales funnel.

2. Provide powerful resources and thought leadership. No matter how well you understand your target market’s challenges, if you cannot communicate your ability to address those challenges, the user experience will not be fulfilling. With 47 percent of prospects engaging with three to five pieces of content before ever speaking with a sales rep, quality thought leadership content is essential to creating a positive UX and converting visitors into customers. Use custom-developed thought leadership content and relevant resources to showcase your company’s experience and expertise. Ensure content is easy to discover as visitors navigate through site menus and position relevant content on strategic web pages. When placing content on your site, walk yourself through the site from the perception of the visitor’s experience. Where is the user starting their journey and what information do they need to make an informed purchase decision? Types of content to consider include:
   • Consistent, written content, such as blogs, white papers, case studies, testimonials, guides or e-books
   • Visual and audio content, such as video, infographics or podcasts
   • News updates, such as press releases, media coverage or newsletters
   • External media, such as published articles, guest blogs or interviews
   • Product and company content, such as your about us page, product catalogs, FAQ or project portfolio.

3. Use design to deliver the right content at the right time. Website visitors have varying needs. Therefore, mapping the stages and differing needs of the buyer’s journey matters.  With this map in mind, design your website so users are provided with the right type of content at their likely stage. Effective navigation with detailed menus and a search bar on every web page means users can find what they need, no matter where they are. Strategic design is essential. Make sure it includes well-positioned recommended content, internal links, chatbots or calls to action that guide users to related resources, product or service details, samples or testimonials, frequently asked questions or appointment schedulers. Use eye-catching design, colors, buttons, strategically placed pop-ups, images or video to ensure users can follow the map you’ve created.

4. Mobile-friendliness is a must. Not only do more users visit websites via mobile devices, 85 percent of users think that a company’s mobile version of their website should be better than their desktop version. Google and other search engines incorporate mobile-friendliness when they evaluate and rank sites. This means optimizing your site for mobile use is a necessity. One option to achieve mobile-friendliness is creating your site with a mobile-first or responsive design. Another is to build a separate site specifically designed for mobile users. Google even offers a mobile-friendliness tool to help identify errors and evaluate performance.

5. Integrate with social media. Consider that 3.96 billion of the earth’s 7.67 billion people are registered on a social media platform. That’s approximately 52 percent of the world’s population. With such significant numbers, it’s not surprising that a majority of your prospects have social media profiles. Most B2B buyers use social media as part of the decision-making process. It’s essential to have a social media presence on the platforms that most resonate with your target audience. LinkedIn, for example, is ranked a top platform for B2B companies with 750 million business professionals. Optimize your social media posts so they invite users to engage with content on your website. With 66 percent of marketers reporting that social media brought new leads, integrating your website with social media platforms and associated content is essential to generate leads.

A Strategic Approach

A user-centric experience is about much more than just easy website navigation. “Strategic UX design requires a different perspective. We have to be able to look at the overall relationship of the many people in the ecosystem, the many different kinds of customers, the company’s staff, and make all of that work together in a special way,” Dr. Shaffer says. “If you really want to succeed, you need to make everything fit together. Making UX a differentiator for your company will never come just with user interface design where you make it easy to use. We have to deal at the strategic level to make it compelling for customers and to make sure that our channels fit together into a unified experience.”

Put Yourself in the User’s Shoes

To maximize the user experience requires the skill, expertise and input of many. It isn’t just about web developers, the social media team or content marketers. A successful UX requires strategic and tactical collaboration among executives, marketing professionals, data analysts, sales, writers and designers to achieve a customer-centric approach. If each department aims to put themselves in the user’s shoes, the experience achieved will put the user first and facilitate company growth.