HOW TO IMPROVE USER EXPERIENCE ON YOUR WEBSITE
I'm obviously a big fan of blogging and helping people leverage their blogs to get their next breakthrough.
It’ll be my 5 year anniversary of blogging this September and I cannot believe it.
So today I wanted to share a quick blogging tip that’s going to help you improve your user experience.
The biggest tip when it comes to helping you improve your user experience is probably the most basic thing that everyone can do, but a lot of people forget to do, that will really pay you back and set you up for great success.
This simple tip will help you improve your user experience so much.
So think about it. What could be the most basic thing when it comes to user experience? What could you do that would change everything when it comes to building and navigating your website?
Is it to make sure you’ve got a good design? That would be nice.
Is it getting really clear on your categories? That’s a pretty good idea.
But the best thing you can do, the simplest thing you can do that doesn’t even involve any tools or any strategies at all?
THINK LIKE YOUR READER
The best thing you can do to improve your user experience immediately, is go to your website right now and look at it from the mindset of your reader.
Navigate it, think about the look of it, think about how they will feel when they read the words on the page.
But why would I do that Holly, wouldn’t I want to make sure I like it since it’s my website? Shouldn’t I make sure I’m 100% happier with it so people will actually come over here?
Well yes, if you’re not in this for the long haul.
But if you truly want to know your reader, you need to create your user experience FOR them.
And doing everything with your readers in mind is a fab idea for anyone who wants to get a breakthrough with their blog, no matter what they blog about.
We cannot just do things the way we like them, we can’t get caught up in the bubble of doing this by ourselves.
THIS IS WHY IT MATTERS FOR YOUR BLOG
The biggest goal for you as a creator is to get people to come to your blog to read a post.
That’s what we’re all trying to do.
So if you do that, if you as a creator get some to come to insert your blog name here dot come and read your blog post - that’s the first step, that’s a big deal.
From there you want them to stay on the page, right?
You want your time on page to go up, you want your pageviews to go up, you want your followers to go up and so on.
But the biggest thing is getting people to [insert your blog name here in the first place] - that’s your big first step, that’s why you create blog posts in the first place.
Once you do that, you have got 15 seconds or less to grab your readers attention.
But what you can do here is use internal linking. Because if they spend 30 seconds on one blog post, then 30 seconds on another, and another, you’re increasing the time on page not just on one blog post, but on your blog as a whole.
Blog posts can become really addictive when you come across someone you love.
So you could just write a blog post with no other links. But what if you improved your user experience by linking to some of your other blog posts. What if you say oh I’m gonna mention this here, but here’s a full blog post I’ve written about this topic.
And then they do go onto read that post. Because you said so.
THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE DONE
The hardest part was getting them to your blog. Now you’re working with your blog to keep them there, to get more minutes read, more pages viewed.
Bringing them in? You’re good. You’re a good creator because you’ve brought them to your website.
But if you keep them there, you’re even better, you’re a great blogger, you will grow.
And it doesn’t matter whether you send them to a fairly recent blog post or a blog post from last year.
You can give people more value by sending them to the extra value which shows you have influence, when the whole time, the only thing you did was aim to extend the session of your reader instead of making them leave.
The difference is that you want to bring them to your blog and then keep them there - you want poeple to stay and read your blog posts.
So thinking of your blog as a reader is actually helping your website grow because you’re ensuring that you’re giving the reader the best experience so they will stay on your site for longer which will help to grow your traffic.
So you’re making your reader happy and you’re making yourself happy.
You’re saying hey stick around go read this tutorial, go read this extra strategy, there’s plenty here for everyone.
Keep reading my blog posts. Keep staying on my blog. Keep saying thank you. Keep lifting my content up. Keep finding yourself in search.
THINK LIKE YOUR READER
You do need to make sure you do have some input into your website, I mean you have control over it.
But thinking of it from the perspective of your reader or your user will help to improve everything for you which is just great, really.
What is a blogger that you think has a really great user experience on their website? Share it in the comments!
Remember to keep thinking like your reader so you can get one step closer to a breakthrough.
