Improving Your Online User’s Experience Equals Increased Value to Customers

Most business owners at this point understand the importance of a website, not only for exposure, but also as the primary distribution channel for his or her products. Perhaps your website is your product.

So how much time have you invested in the success of your site? If your website was built more than a few years ago without any major redesigns or upgrades since then, you probably have a usability issue. This is especially true if your website is your actual product, such as a subscription-based information database or an online community.

Websites should be ever-evolving, and that doesn’t mean simply adding a new page or set of pages when you launch a new product. It means that it has to adapt to the habits and trends of your users.

For example, your online community or web-based product should be accessible via mobile device if it is to be truly useful for your audience. (Does anything online not have an iPhone app these days?)

Image By Paul Veugen used under Creative Commons License

And on a lower level, ask someone who has never seen your website to scan the homepage. Where are their eyes drawn? Do they immediately understand the message? If they have to login, do they understand what to do or do they have a way to lookup their login information? Time how long it takes them to find a way to contact the company.

An out-of-date website is an irrelevant website. It will not attract new users. It’s important that you understand your users’ browsing habits and adjust your website accordingly. For ways to maintain that kind of constant customer feedback and rework, see my previous post on Agile product development.

About Bizmanualz
Bizmanualz has been at the forefront of deploying business best practices since 1995 delivering Policies, Procedures and Forms; quality systems implementation; and strategic business process improvement to help business owners achieve the growth and expansion they envision.

Learn more about Bizmanualz solutions:

• Policies & Procedures Manuals
• Strategic Process Improvement
• Quality Training Courses

    Email     Print    Subscribe     

Posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 under Sales and Marketing, Strategy

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

This article can be reproduced freely ONLY with the following attribution:

Originally published in 2009 by Bizmanualz, Inc. under the title Improving Your Online User’s Experience Equals Increased Value to Customers. All rights reserved. Reproduction permitted with attribution only. www.bizmanualz.com