Thinking about the User’s journey in Web design.
I like to think of user intent as your destination. You know what I mean, right? It’s the place you want to go and how far it is from where we are now that matters less than getting there.
Many elements come into play when designing a website, from layout to color schemes and everything in between. The most important element of all, however, is the user and it all starts with user intent. User intent is the destination; the place you want to go.
The user’s journey is one of the most important aspects of web design and it’s crucial to understand how users interact with your website. By understanding user intent, you can create a website that is more user-friendly and meets their needs. In today’s blog post, we discuss three steps that will help you increase your conversion rate and generate more revenue for your business.
Mapping and assembling digital architecture.
The first step is to map and assemble digital architecture. This involves gathering the website’s information architecture, mapping users’ journeys, and determining where you want them to go. You also need to decide on how your website will be structured, what page wireframes should look like, which user flows you want to design.
Creating personas can help you make these decisions easier.
Personas are abstractions of your real users, based on research and data, that aren’t tied to actual user data. They are archetypes of personas you might have described their demographics, motivations, goals, fears, and so on.
Based on these personas, you can design a user flow that shows the pathways between pages and builds a narrative around your website’s features.
Identifying key touchpoints in your customer’s journey.
Maintaining customer satisfaction starts by knowing who will be using our sites and services so we can tailor the website accordingly. Once we’ve done that, mapping out key touchpoints in their journey will allow us to provide additional information at strategic places. In other words, the more information we have about our users, the better equipped we will be to improve their experience.
By engaging in activities such as identifying key touchpoints and knowing where and when they’ll take place, you can map out a user’s journey and ultimately offer them a good online experience. This means that understanding your customers and providing them with the right information at the right time will create stronger relationships, allowing for greater customer satisfaction.
All of these things culminate into making user intent mapping one of the most important steps in designing a website that converts. Understanding where your users are coming from, what they’re looking for, and how to get them to act on it is the
If you find yourself getting lost anytime soon, be sure to look for more on how ….
What might your target audience be looking for when visiting your site?
Website visitors have a certain expectation when they visit your site. One of those expectations is that you’ll provide them with what they want. If you don’t provide them with what they want, then you run the risk of them leaving your site. One way of increasing your chances of keeping them on your site is by understanding the user intent mapping process.
When you know what they want and provide it, website visitors will be satisfied and more likely to convert into a lead. They’ll also come back and keep engaging with your company and products/services. User intent mapping is an excellent way to achieve this.
If you’re having trouble thinking about what your target audience might be looking for when visiting your website, here are some things to consider
Are people coming to your site to solve a problem?
It might be to find information about how to fix their car. It could even be to find out how much it will cost them, or where they can buy the parts for fixing the car themselves. Maybe your users come to your site because they’re looking for an alternative way of solving that problem, like hiring a professional instead?
What kind of information do they need when they come to your site?
Your users are coming to your site for information. You need to know where they are in the buying cycle, what they’re looking for when visiting your site, and which keywords/phrases they might be using when searching for that specific information.
How can you provide them with this information in the most efficient way possible so that they convert into leads and eventually customers
Are people looking for information about a topic?
If so, it might be about a certain type of product they want to buy or service. Maybe your users come to your site because they’re looking for information on how to fix their car? Then one way of converting them into customers would be by offering them step-by-step instructions on how to do that themselves.
Are people coming to your site to learn about your company and products/services?
Maybe they’re coming to your site for information about your products/services, or because they want to find out how much you charge. Or maybe they are looking for reviews about you. One way of converting them into leads is by making it easy for them to contact you on the page they are currently viewing.
Are people coming to your site to make a purchase?
If this is the case, they might be looking for a specific product or service that you offer. If your users come to your site and make a purchase, it means you’ve achieved what you set out to do (which was to convert them into leads and eventually customers).
What makes your business different from other companies? Why should existing and past customers choose you?
If that’s the case, then you need to let them know what makes your company different from others. Maybe your products/services are more affordable than your competitors? Or maybe they’re of higher quality than other similar products/services out there?
Are people coming to your site for entertainment purposes only?
Knowing the answers will help you understand what they might be looking for when visiting your website. This understanding gives you a base as to where and how the user is interacting with your site.
Mapping your website around your content.
When designing a website from scratch, it’s best to plan out your content strategy and demands beforehand. Content should be at the forefront of every design element, so during this process deciding how you want your site to look and function should come second.
Content will sell your product or service better than any traditional marketing effort ever could, so make sure you put your content first.
Putting Content First
The best way to plan your website design is to map out the site’s most important content pieces.
Content can be broken down into multiple categories–articles, videos, news, blogs, photos and much more. Content is everything you create to drive traffic to your site (marketing) and the ultimate reason someone will become a customer (sales). Content works hand-in-hand with design; content should dictate the information architecture for your website.
Content can be tricky to get right, but working closely with people who understand both content strategy and effective web design is key.
Redesign your website based on the new understanding of your users.
Redesign your website based on the new understanding to make it more intuitive and easier to use.
Testing our different layouts, colors, and designs that your audience responds to.
We should make sure the user can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily
Users don’t want to have to scroll through a long page of text, so we should break up content into smaller chunks, also known as a progressive reveal.
Implementing changes and keeping a cohesive feel with pages or content types
What are the objectives of your website? Are you still meeting them
We at Adept Creative always like to reflect, take a step back and make sure our web design is still aligning with our business goals. Sometimes you can get so caught up in all the design possibilities you can begin to follow aesthetics and lose track of purpose. We should always make sure we are meeting our business, brand, and marketing needs when designing a website.
