WordPress UX: 7 Tips for Creating a User-friendly Website

Imagine this: A visitor lands on your website, and the first page takes minutes to load. They try to make a purchase, but locating the product sections without clear CTA links to direct them is difficult. 

Eventually, they are stuck in a non-responsive, challenging-to-navigate state, and they have no choice but to leave. As frustrating as that scenario is, many visitors experience it daily. Statistics reveal if a mobile loading time is more than three seconds, it’s likely to lose its users, and 79% of online shoppers will avoid a retailer due to performance challenges. 

Building a user-friendly website on your WordPress with UX is the way to reduce bounce rate, boost traffic and convert website visitors to customers. Improving customer experience increases KPIs by 80%, and 23% of online shoppers will share a positive experience on one website with more than 10 people. 

So, good UX is essential whether you want to build a new WordPress site or improve an existing one. And if you do not know how to go about it, this article will help. Here, you will find seven practical tips for creating a website your users love. 

Let’s begin with a quick definition of WordPress UX. 

What is WordPress UX

Generally, User Experience (UX) is designing your products and applications to meet your users’ accessibility, usability, and functionality needs. It involves creating relevant experiences that satisfy users. For example, in website development, a website with good UX must have the following qualities: 

• Valuable: Does your website have the content users are searching for? 
• Usable: Is the website easy to use? 
• Desirable: Does your website design captivate users? 
• Findable: Can your audience find it quickly? 
• Accessible: Can everyone use your website? 

A website becomes valuable to the consumer when it possesses these qualities. As a result, it improves their experiences and encourages them to patronize and stay loyal to your business. 

Excellent UX is critical for WordPress sites because although they are easy to set up and use,  adopting UX practices makes them more straightforward, accessible, and functional for every user. 

While you can create your ecommerce store with simple clicks on WordPress, you must be intentional about creating a desirable experience for website visitors. Take these classes in UX design foundations to learn more about building a functional WordPress UX. 

Tips for a user-friendly WordPress UX

Attracting and converting website visitors to consumers is easy when you improve your WordPress UX. Here are the top seven practices you can use now. 

1. Make your content accessible 

Accessibility is vital when designing a WordPress website with an excellent UX. The U.S General Services Administration defines accessibility as usability for people who interact with products differently. This means creating your website with multiple users in mind, including those with disabilities, different languages, and diverse preferences. 

The World Health Organization states that 15% of the world’s population has a disability. Also, a U.S survey states that 92% of people view videos with the sound off, and 80% of consumers are more likely to watch a video with captions. As a result, you must consider users in these categories when creating and designing your WordPress site. 

To do this, make your content accessible to every user by creating them in different formats, including audio, text, and videos. For example, you can convert audio to text and change videos to audio to make it easy for consumers. This way, anyone who visits your website can understand your message, take desired actions and enjoy a positive experience. 

So, ensure you keep accessibility in mind when creating your WordPress website. Think about the users who can consume your content in a text format only and those who prefer visuals to text. Then, accommodate every user’s needs by creating your text in several forms. 

2. Perform card sorting 

Card sorting is among the most effective UX research methods to improve customer interactions on your website. It shows you how your customers understand and categorize information. This way, you can structure your website content according to this categorization. 

To conduct card sorting, assemble your users and cards ( pieces of paper or card-sorting tools). Afterward, write different topics on a card and ask users to place the cards in categories based on their relatedness. Essentially, it provides insight into how visitors understand and categorize topics. This way, you can structure and design the information on your website to be predictable to users.

Card sorting also improves accessibility. Visitors can easily find the information they seek. They can also perform intended activities with no hassle because they know where to go. Finally, it speeds up their processes, enabling them to quickly perform intended actions on your website. 

Creating an effective card-sorting process requires different formats and techniques. Learn how to do card sorting in UX with this resource.

3. Understand and focus on your user 

UX is about the user, not the exceptionality of your product. So, you must understand your users and build your website around them. To do this, figure out who your ideal user is and what their pain points are. What do they expect from your website? What are their challenges, and what needs are they hoping to meet? 

Understanding user demographics (age, gender, occupation, location, etc.) and psychographics(needs, wants, challenges) will help you know their expectations and design your website accordingly.  

The best way to know your customers is to ask questions. So, conduct surveys and organize interviews. Target different questions to their experiences on your website. Your surveys can be in Yes/No forms, multiple choice, and others. These questions will help you understand user needs, preferences, and observations. 

Afterward, structure your website to meet these needs. Map out their journey and eliminate obstacles on the way. Ensure every element on your website is built with your users in mind. Your website becomes user-centric when you do this, creating positive experiences and generating the best results for your business. 

4. Prioritize speed 

A non-responsive website affects your traffic and customer conversion. Research shows an 11% drop in page views, a 7% decrease in conversion rates, and a 16% reduction in customer satisfaction for a one-second delay in page load. 

Customers want fast answers to what they are searching for on your site. They want to execute their tasks quickly. So, whether it’s visiting your about us page for more information about your brand or checking your product page to know the items you sell, they want answers, and they want it now. 

Delays will have them going to your competitors. So, if you want to reduce your bounce rate and boost your conversions, creating a website with a quick response rate is the way to go. 

To do this, review your plugins. Optimize image sizes, and minify your codes. Finally, test your website regularly to ensure they operate at a fast speed. 

Remember, a responsive website is the key to getting the best results from your online business. Besides boosting customer satisfaction, it enhances your SEO. Google reviews your website’s speed to rank your website. So, the faster your website is, the higher your page will rank. 

5. Use a simple and clear design

Simplicity and clarity are essential to building an easy-to-use WordPress website. While a fancy design is good, it’s vital not to sacrifice aesthetics for functionality. Instead, focus on how the design element contributes to the user experience. Does it help them navigate the website quickly? Will they find what they want easily? 

Every design element should take visitors a step closer to their goal. A simple design is an easy way to do this. So, rather than overwhelm users with content and various designs, eliminate unnecessary clutter and focus on what is critical. 

White space is always a good idea. They create wide margins on a page and margins between texts and images. This way, visitors can navigate through the content and grasp information easily. 

Lastly, ensure your design doesn’t confuse your readers. Instead, it should point them in the right direction of the action they want to take. You make your website usable when you simplify and clarify your design, creating pleasant experiences for visitors.

Check out this guide from Mailchimp to design pages on your blog. 

6. Provide valuable content 

Users visit your website with a goal in mind. They may want to find more information about your business, buy a product, book a consultation session or read your blog. Your goal is to identify their intentions and structure your website to help them achieve what they went to do. 

This involves providing the relevant information they are seeking. For example, consumers who want to know more about your business should find information on your home and about us pages. Your product or services page should contain a detailed description of your offer. Your blog should also have how-to posts, user cases, and posts providing relevant information for your users. 

The key to providing users with relevant information is knowing the precise information they are looking for. To understand this, research keywords to learn the questions and phrases they are searching for. This way, you can structure your content to answer their questions. 

Valuable content will enhance their experience by providing helpful information about their needs. So, when creating your WordPress site, think about the information your consumers expect to see and structure your content to meet their expectations. 

7. Use effective CTAs 

A call-to-action prompts users to take action on your website.. It’s common to assume your audience knows the next step when designing your WordPress site. After all, they should know the next thing to do after going through your product or services page is to order or book an appointment. While it may seem like your audience knows what to do, stating the action is a great way to reinforce it. 

Interestingly, your users may need clarification about the next steps to take after visiting a page on your website. Your call to action is to prompt them in the right direction. So, on your home page, you can include specific calls-to-action to tell them what to do next. 

CTAs simplify users’ experiences, boosting your WordPress website’s UX. Besides, they increase conversions by prompting visitors to take desired actions. 

Effective CTAs are straightforward and beneficial to your audience. So if you are telling them what to do, tell them why they must do it. For example,  use “Sign up to get a bonus” instead of “sign up,” “book an appointment to enjoy our services,” instead of “book an appointment.” CTA buttons with benefits attached to them are much more persuasive, so create a benefit-driven CTA when creating your WordPress site. 

Develop a user-friendly WordPress site 

Creating a usable WordPress site can be a bit confusing when you know little about your customers and their challenges. However, adopting the UX practices discussed in this article will guide you through creating a user-friendly website that guarantees conversion and retention. 

Author Bio:
Lydia Iseh is a professional writer with more than 5 years of experience in creating top-notch SEO content that provides value to the reader. She is a verified author on over 100 websites, a feat she achieved by producing informative and captivating pieces. When she’s not writing, she can be found relaxing at the beach or catching up on a TV show. You can reach her through bit.ly/3g0B8sS or via email at lydiaiseh@gmail.com to discuss your content needs.

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