94% of first impressions of your business relate to your site’s web design. That’s how important your website is. Even if you have the best product in the world, customers will unlikely stick with your brand if your website is dull and uninspiring. Your website is your digital shop window and first impression to potential customers, so it needs to be striking. 

If you currently have a static WordPress site that doesn’t do justice to your business, then it’s time to upgrade! Let’s explore how you can create a more engaging WordPress website using proven UX techniques. 

Why is website user experience important

The aim of website UX is to satisfy users’ needs and create for them a pleasant experience, and when it comes to business, there’s nothing more important. By giving your audience a smooth and positive experience on your website, they become loyal to your brand and are willing to pay for premium services. Here are some more benefits of good website UX:

• Improved SEO rankings

SEO is essential because it lets Google’s algorithm know if your website’s content suits users. That is why SEO prioritization is one of the tips for making your WordPress website a success. Your website will appear early in search results if the SEO is good. Therefore, with higher SEO rankings comes enhanced discoverability on the internet, and good website UX helps you achieve that. 

• Sales boost

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By making your checkout and payment process easier for customers, you can expect an increase in sales. A significant percentage of cart abandonment issues are due to account creation requirements before checkout and a long/complicated checkout process, respectively. In other words, with good UX design, more consumers will complete their purchases, leading to more sales for your business. 

• Better conversion rates

When two websites offer the same product or service, but people prefer one and not the other, it’s usually due to the user experience. In other words, a good website UX will attract your target audience to your products and service, leading to reasonable conversion rates. 

9 Tips for creating a more engaging WordPress website 

Now that we’ve established how a good website UX positively influences your business let’s discuss how to boost your WordPress website’s UX. 

1. Explore the benefits of card sorting 

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The benefits of card sorting are many when it comes to UX research. Research is the first step to discovering the elements that will satisfy users in your niche. And while there are many ways to do this, one of the best is card sorting. This technique will allow you to understand how users visualize, process, and categorize information on a website. This way, you can find out what potential users expect from your website and create the perfect website for them. 

The end goal of card sorting is to help you build a website with good information architecture. In other words, it enables you to arrange every element on your website exactly how your users want it. 

2. Fast website speed

We all agree that there’s nothing more annoying than a slow website, which gives poor UX and severely affects businesses. Consumers have always admitted that page speed affects their buying decisions. A slow website gives a wrong impression about your business and increases your bounce rate.

Here’s how you can boost website speed in WordPress:

1. Limit WordPress plugins: Too many plugins will deplete your server’s processing power, leading to slow website loading speeds. 
2. Deploy caching: This will help your website load faster for users that have visited before.
3. Use good hosting services: Website hosting services are like high-speed storage devices, so they make your website perform better and faster. 
4. Subscribe to a reliable Content Delivery Network (CDN): This will allow your users to download static files faster, leading to faster website speed. 

3. Make navigation easy

Your website must be simple to use, even by kids. There’s no crime in using the typical website designs that users love, especially if it allows them to easily access various parts of your website. The good news is that WordPress has many resources that enable you to build a seamless navigation system, which is one of the reasons why it is the best option for content-rich websites. Check out these simple elements that will ease your website’s navigation:

1. Breadcrumbs: This secondary navigation support helps users understand their location on a page. It also allows them to trace their way back to the point of origin. 
2. Sitemaps: it’s a list of URLs that lead to every page on your website. It allows users to instantly access any page on your website by clicking on the correct URL. 
3. Categories: Users will visit your website for various reasons, and it is up to you to add these ‘reasons’ to your navigation sidebar as categories. 
4. Search tool: This is vital if you own an online store. It allows users to find products directly on your website, which is way better than searching through product categories. 

5. Improve content readability

The point of a website is to display visual and written content to users. So, you must make the written content on your website easy to read. Making your website’s written content easy on the eye is a surefire way of keeping your audience engaged. Begin by researching common formatting tips, especially on websites in your niche. 

Here are ways to improve your website content’s readability:

• Keep your paragraphs short and meaningful
• Use italics for emphasis
• Choose fonts that are readable in every size
• Bolden words and phrases for emphasis
• Use left-to-right alignment to make written content more legible
• Use narrow letter spacing for headings, subheadings, and large fonts

5. Use simple designs

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How would you feel if you wanted to order a TV set, but the website displayed irrelevant, stylish content before directing you to the checkout page? Well, that’s how many users feel when websites are crowded with too many designs, colors, animations, and whatnots that make them difficult to use. 

Your website’s purpose and efficiency in fulfilling this purpose should be your priority during the design process; everything else, including aesthetics, is secondary. So, always maintain your website’s functionality for aesthetics. It often leads to lousy UX, which could be better for business. 

6. Mobile Optimization

Properly optimizing your website for mobile phone users is arguably the biggest mistake you can ever make as a website designer. Over 60% of consumers use mobile phones for online shopping, and you must make a good user experience for such a large number of people. Yes, WordPress already optimizes websites for mobile phone users, but you can do even better by following the tips below:

• Enable Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs)
• Refrain from using full-screen popups
• Remove unused CSS to reduce page size and make it easily loadable for mobile devices
• Optimize images for mobile users by resizing and compressing images while loading them

7. Deploy negative space

Negative space or whitespace refers to regions on your website that contain no content, and having a reasonable amount of such areas makes for better UX. It allows users to see items on your website with clarity and breaks up web pages to let readers focus on the website’s main point, even if it contains other content. Combining line spacing and paragraph margins with negative space also helps boost the readability of your website content, which is great for user experience. 

8. Use clear and personal CTAs

Have you ever left a website because there was no clear directive on what to do to access their products and services? Well, that’s the job of CTAs, and the UX designers of that website probably didn’t place them in visible areas. However, you must understand that interested visitors will look for a button or command that tells them how to access features on your website. Therefore, it is up to you to place it where they can easily find it. 

9. Include informative content on your homepage

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A website has only a few seconds to grasp a visitor’s attention and ensure that they explore its features. While several elements could make a visitor stay, information is arguably the most powerful. 

When users visit your website, they typically need to know two things: the products and services you offer and how they can access them. Other times, they may need motivation to buy your products, such as data that suggests your brand is the best in the business. 

All you have to do is include all the information they need on your homepage or landing page and use creative ways such as infographics to pass the message. That way, they instantly know what your brand does, how they can access its features, and see proof of its efficiency. The user experience is similar to that. 

Be deliberate about your WordPress UX

Creating a website for your business is a valuable way to promote and market your products or services. Unfortunately, many websites are bland and, sometimes, outrightly terrible, giving the user an unpleasant experience. You must be intentional and take advantage of time-tested tactics to make yours stand out.

Ways you can create a more engaging WordPress website include using card sorting, improving the speed of your website, making navigation smooth, and adding readable content. Others use simple designs, mobile optimization, deploying negative space, clear and personal CTAs, and including informative content on your homepage.

Moyofade Ipadeola is a Content Strategist, UX Writer, and Editor. Witty, she loves personal development and helping people grow. Mo, as she’s fondly called, is fascinated by all things tech.