What you need to know about User Experience in 2021

We all know that the digital spheres and world wide web are constantly changing. What we Marketers call “User Experience” looks a lot different now to what it did just a couple of years ago. 

To give you an example of what we are talking about: You are highly likely signed up to Facebook or an Email provider. They update the look of their dashboards every now and then. For the first couple of times, you encounter the new look, you are probably confused or click on a wrong button. But it only takes you a few logins and you barely remember what it looked like before. (That’s if the update is well designed and thought through.) 

So, what are we trying to say? Websites that keep up with trends and the evolution of the web and how it’s used, update their look and feel (= User Experience or short UX) so that their prospects will naturally know where to find the information, services or products they are after. 
A few general examples would be: A logo is found in the top left corner and links to the home page. A search bar sits in the top right corner or if it’s the site's main tool in the centre. The footer contains a “Contact us” button. That is probably nothing new to you, right? There are some UX trends that aren’t as obvious or even hidden in the backend of a site. This article will give some food for thought on (re)evaluating your website. Plus a FREE guide summarising the 10 main things to consider for a great UX. 

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Signs your Website needs a redesign

Our article “Do you need a new website?” outlines in depth how you can analyse if your web presence, which works as your digital business card is still one people want to hold on to if they come across it. To sum it up, you should consider a redesign if:  

1. Your website is not mobile friendly.
   Because 63% of searches are conducted from a mobile device. [Merkle]
2. Your website doesn’t look good.
   Because it only takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines if they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave. [Taylor & Francis] 
3. Your website’s look is inconsistent.
   The main reasons for users to abandon a site are: They don’t find what they expect, they are overwhelmed by too much information or they don’t know what to do. All that can be solved by clean modern design! The consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33%. [Lucidpress]
4. Your website is too slow.
   If a site takes longer than 4 seconds to load, page abandonment increases by 25%. Most of the internet users (30%) asked in a survey were only willing to wait 6-10 seconds for a site to load. [Neil Patel]
5. Your website ranks poorly on search engines.
   Studies show that 75% of users do not go to the second page of search results. [WebFX]
6. Your website has a low conversion rate.
   That might be solved by something as simple as creative calls to action (CTAs). 42% of personalised CTAs convert more visitors into leads compared to untargeted ones. [Devrix]
7. You have changed your branding.
   Brand consistency heavily affects what people think about your company. The more consistent (in wording, design, images, perspective, etc.) the higher the trust and loyalty customers will have in your brand. 81% of consumers said that they need to be able to trust a brand to buy from them [Edelman]. Something as simple as a signature colour can increase brand recognition by 80% [Reboot]. 
8. You have outgrown your website and its functionality doesn’t serve you.
   We don’t need to show you stats on that one, you know you want a website that you can easily update and fill with the content you want to spread. 
9. Your Industry has evolved.
   Remember our Facebook/Email provider example from the start? Imagine some platforms updating their look and feel while others don’t. You don’t want to be the website that gets people feeling nostalgic. Stay on top of the trends and keep in touch with what is happening within your industry. 
10. Your website isn’t secure.
    That can lead to you losing customers. We wrote a whole article on that topic, read it here. 

Things to consider when creating your UX

You want your website to be a strong salesman. It should be able to make contact with new prospects as well as leave your regular customer with a good experience and feeling every time they interact with you. Therefore, you need to be aware that designing UX is not a one-time expense. You train your salesmen and they learn from encounters with customers. Do the same with your website. You should include a review of its content and functionality at least once a year.
Some key things to consider when analysing your site are: 

1. 1. Your business
   2. Your competitors 
   3. Your customers 
   4. Your website 
      - and last but definitely not least -
   5. Search engines

Search engines measure your website’s “quality” on different factors. The most recent Google Ranking Factors for 2021 are: 

1. 1. High-quality content
   2. Backlinks 
   3. Search intent
   4. Website loading speed 
   5. Mobile friendliness 
   6. Domain authority 
   7. Keyword optimization 
   8. Website structure 
   9. Website security 
   10. UX

We know there are a lot of lists in this post, but they are here to show you how well-implemented SEO and greatly designed UX are working hand in hand. Users can’t experience your site if they can’t find it. And search engines are more likely to rank your site higher when your UX is performing.