Best Practices for User Experience on Your Website
Website UX Mistakes to Avoid and Best Practices to Follow
A beautiful website is useless if visitors can’t navigate it. Improve your site’s user experience with these key strategies.
Want to create a seamless experience for your website visitors? Read on for more expert tips!
- Make your purpose clear – Visitors should know who you are and what you offer within seconds.
- Use strong CTAs – Guide users to take action with clear, engaging buttons.
- Optimize for speed – Slow load times drive users away; compress images and limit plugins.
- Prioritize mobile-friendliness – Over 60% of traffic comes from mobile; test your site!
- Simplify navigation – Too many menu links overwhelm users; keep it clean.
- Keep content skimmable – Use headings, short paragraphs, and bullet points.
- Place key content above the fold – Don’t make users scroll for critical info.
- Check for broken links – Regularly update and test links to avoid 404 errors.
User Experience Best Practices for a High-Performing Website
A beautifully designed website is great, but if visitors can’t easily navigate it, they’ll leave just as fast as they arrived. A confusing, cluttered, or slow website can drive people away—impacting your conversions, SEO, and overall brand perception. Let’s break down the best practices for creating a user-friendly website that keeps visitors engaged and leads them to take action.
1. Make Your Purpose Instantly Clear
When someone lands on your website, they should immediately understand who you are and what you offer. If they have to search for that information, they’ll likely leave. Ensure your homepage communicates your value and services within the first few seconds.
2. Have a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
Every website should have a primary CTA—what do you want visitors to do?
If you sell products, make sure the Shop Now button stands out.
If you offer services, your Schedule a Call or Contact Me button should be easy to find.
Place the form in an obvious spot if you want newsletter sign-ups.
Generic CTA text like “Learn More” isn’t compelling. Try something more engaging like “Explore Your Options” or “Start Your Journey.”
3. Speed Matters
Did you know that 40% of users will leave a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load? Keep your site running fast by:
Optimizing images (use tools like TinyJPG or CompressPNG).
Limiting unnecessary plugins and ensuring your site is updated.
Choosing a fast hosting platform that prioritizes speed.
To evaluate your site’s loading speed and receive optimization suggestions, you can use Google PageSpeed Insights. This free tool analyzes your website’s performance on both mobile and desktop devices, offering actionable recommendations to improve speed and user experience.
4. Make Your Content Skimmable
People don’t read websites like a book—they scan. If your text is in big, dense paragraphs, visitors will bounce. To improve readability:
Use headings to break up sections (read more about proper header tag use here).
Keep paragraphs short.
Use bullet points to highlight key information.
5. Prioritize Mobile-Friendliness
More than 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, and Google only indexes the mobile version of your site. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re losing potential visitors.
To check if your site is mobile-friendly:
Test it on your phone—does everything load properly?
Ensure buttons are easy to tap (no tiny links!).
Make sure text is readable without zooming.
6. Keep Your Navigation Simple
Your navigation menu should be clear and easy to use. Too many links at the top can overwhelm visitors. Stick to the essentials. For Authors and Artists, that would be something like this:
Home
About
Portfolio
Events
Contact
If you have additional content, link it within your pages instead of crowding the main menu.
7. Place Important Content Above the Fold
‘Above the fold’ refers to content that users see before they start scrolling. The most important information—who you are, what you do, and your CTA—should be at the top of the page. Visitors decide in seconds whether they’ll stay, so make sure key details are front and center.
8. Plan Your Site Before You Build
Good planning prevents usability issues from the start. Before designing your website, outline:
Your essential pages.
What content belongs on each page.
The clear CTA for each page.
Avoid These Common Mistakes in Your Website
Even well-designed websites can make small errors that harm the user experience. Here are some to avoid:
More than one H1 per page – This is bad for SEO and accessibility. Use only one H1, then structure the rest with H2s and H3s (read more).
Broken links – Regularly check your site with Google Search Console to ensure all links work.
Unoptimized images – Large images slow down your site, affecting both SEO and user experience.
Hard-to-find social handles – If people want to follow or connect with you, make it easy!
Final Thoughts on UX
A user-friendly website isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about functionality, speed, and clarity. By avoiding common mistakes and focusing on best practices, you can create a website that engages visitors, improves conversions, and enhances your brand’s credibility.
Book a free consultation if you need help with your website!
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