When you watch a movie you expect it to take you on a journey; one filled with laughter, emotion, gratitude, or even inspiration. One of the main goals for movie producers is to get viewers to enjoy what they see and watch it until the end. When you think about it, this bears a striking resemblance to what you do when you create your own website. You want to provide a memorable and easy experience.  

A good website is measured by a few important elements, one of them being the length of each visit. The longer they stay, the more they will learn about your business and engage with what you offer. That brings us to our main topic; UX design. UX stands for user experience, which means that in order to have a successful website you must ensure it’s accessible, usable, efficient and easy on the eyes. All of these elements together will help you create a joyful journey for your visitors and maintain an exceptional UX design for your website. There are a few methods and bits of UX design examples that will help you master the art behind building websites that generate great engagement and user experience, and we’ve broken down the most important ones:

Design for the users

Browse UX research websites to help you identify who your user's persona is, and keep them in mind when creating every aspect of your website in order to meet their needs. This also means that you should listen to your users and change the structure of your site according to their feedback.

Less is more

Researchers have identified that today, online users only have an 8-second attention span. That means you’ve got to lure them in quickly with an excellent user interface, UX content strategy and microcopy. Your homepage should only include the most important details, like what your biz is all about. Since you’ll have a ton of great content to share, it’s best to link to inner pages or add anchors leading to different points on your page, where more information can be found.

Flow

The flesh of your website is built on the framework you create. You need to establish structure and provide the necessary points a user needs. One of the best ways to do this is by working with wireframes. Create a flow that makes sense, is easy to follow and approachable to your target audience.

Visuals

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Who knew that this phrase from the early 20th century would be so relevant to our online world? One photo can help you keep your visitors interested and focused. Catch their eyes with a high-quality image that will lead them to useful information in just a click.

Text

Text is crucial to use for any piece of information (including this blog, right?) But take caution; there are some strict rules regarding how to include written content correctly throughout your site: check it’s readable (size and font type), don’t use more than three types of fonts and use graphical bullet points if there are instructions of some sort.

Navigation bar

Website navigation is the control point that links the user to sections within your website (see our guide on mobile navigation). Think of your horizontal and vertical menus as your GPS for those who are visiting. Make things clear, visible and easy to explore. Your website menu design is your home base, so when a visitor clicks on it, they should be brought back to where their journey began; your homepage.

White space

Often referred to as negative space, white space is the portion of a page left unmarked or blank. So if you’re a hoarder, make sure to clean out the trash when it comes to your online home! You must organize accordingly so that all different kinds of content (text, images, icons, etc.) have enough space to give your viewers a breather. That space between each element is super important for the flow and the processing of your website.

Above the fold

News Flash! Back in the day when newspapers were the main form of media, editors would ensure to include the important pieces of information on the first page, “above the fold.” This refers to the way people would hold the paper in their hands; placing the most important text in the most visible space. The printed journalism industry has almost disappeared, but the idea of keeping what’s hot on top is still a necessity when it comes to your homepage.

Links

These are like the tour guides of your website. Use them to direct your visitors where you wish them to “travel” next. Important fact: if the link is leading to content within your site, don’t let it open in a new tab. If it’s an outside source, then direct it to open a new window.

CTA

These three letters stand for Call to Action. These are the buttons that tell your viewers exactly what you want them to do. Place them in strategic locations, add 2-3 words of action and choose a color that will pop!

For example: Go to the Next Point>> but seriously now, please move to the next bullet point :)

Contact details

A success story usually ends when your visitors are interested in getting in touch with you! Your contact info needs to be located in an easy-to-reach place, and don’t forget to add all the necessary means of communication (email, phone, address).

Social media links

Does your small biz have a presence on social media (it really should by now!)? If so, then our point above relates to this as well. Think of these links as the sequel to your movie (aka website) you’ve just let your visitors go through. Placing your social links in a visible place will encourage your users to keep navigating along the journey of your business.

Music

As much as we probably would love dancing to your tunes, we don’t recommend adding music that starts to play automatically. If you are a musician and this is part of your business, don’t let it play on loop Forever, forever, ever, forever, ever.

Mobile compatibility

In a world where even your dog has its own Instagram account, you must take into consideration that most of your website’s visitors will surf via their mobile. There are so many different types of screens available, and your goal is to show that good things come in small packages :) Use our Wix mobile Editor to create a site that would be suitable to use from any device.

Footer

You care about what shoes you wear each day, right? Then you should be treating your footer the same way. The bottom of your site needs to be as informative and visual as the rest of your homepage. Place links to the following pages:  About Us, Contact Us, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and a Site Map (the list of all the pages you have included in your site), to really hammer home a smooth user journey.

Seems like a lot to do for your website, huh? Well, it’ll be worth all the time you put into it when your visitors have the best possible user experience.

Don’t forget: If you follow these tips, they will come!