Understanding the User Better: Why Usability Is So Important for Your Website

Usability can be translated as "user-friendliness" and describes the ability to achieve the desired result without difficulty. Optimal usability means that a product, service, or website fulfills exactly the task it was designed for.

On a website, this can be, depending on the intention, a completed purchase process, the provision of relevant information, or the strengthening of one's own brand, etc. Usability plays a decisive role in whether and to what extent visitors engage with your website content or move on to another website. It is an important factor in customer satisfaction and website quality.

The user wants to be guided

A good website makes it easier for the user to navigate. It allows the user to quickly reach the desired goal. Especially with usability, the phrase "The journey is the goal" applies, albeit in a different sense. Studies show that users don't want to think about how to do something on a website. They want to be taken by the hand and not have to painstakingly search for certain elements and "discover" the website for themselves.

Instead, they want to intuitively reach the desired goal (complete a purchase, download a document, find desired information) - and preferably immediately. The content offered must be self-explanatory in terms of a positive user experience.

This is also one of the reasons why instructional articles and videos, so-called "how-to's," work so well on the web and are among the most-read articles or videos viewed.

The matter with the competition

The lack of willingness to simply linger on a website is partly due to market conditions and partly due to users' limited time. Especially in the online world, a competitor is just a click away. Instead of having to walk up and down the entire shopping street again, a user needs only to enter a URL into the browser window to reach the desired place on the internet.

The growing online competition means that your website must impress from the very first second. Few companies have the good fortune that their offerings (service, physical product, digital product like apps) are "irreplaceable." In such cases, users are willing to struggle with a website if necessary. But reality usually looks different. Such a unique selling point is typically not long-lasting. Innovative business concepts are quickly copied and further developed by competitors. This means that companies previously alone in their market niche suddenly find themselves in a competitive environment and must vie for the favor of users.

Usability thus becomes a crucial competitive factor. Well-prepared and easily findable website content can convince users to complete conversions on your site rather than a competitor's.

Good usability ensures a good image

The first impression counts. This applies to websites just as much as it does to other areas of life. Your website is your virtual storefront on the internet. In many cases, visiting the website is the first contact point for new customers.

Many website operators are unaware that users often extrapolate the entire company from its website. A poor website can consequently negatively affect the overall corporate image. Non-updated content and other errors (non-clickable content, non-displayed images, etc.) may lead to assumptions about the company's overall quality. The user might wonder whether the company can offer good service if it can't even fix simple things on its website. Although such assumptions are generally inaccurate, this scenario illustrates the potential impacts of poor usability on a website.

Usability is more than just a pretty design

The challenge of web design lies in the fact that no other medium changes as quickly as the internet. Web design also evolves and is subject to trends. A good web design immediately appeals to the user and responds to changing user behavior.

However, website content should not only look attractive but also serve a specific purpose. In reality, there is a significant difference between the perception of how websites are used and the actual use. When website operators and web designers sketch a website, they have a particular image in mind. The idea that users will study all content in detail is common, but it is a misconception.

In truth, users first skim a page. They quickly scan the texts and click on the first link that seems interesting or appears closest to the sought-after goal. The consequence is that much of the page is not actively noticed by users.

How a user reads a webpage largely depends on their goal. They focus on words and phrases that fit personal interests, known as trigger words. If they do not find these on the website, no matter how beautifully designed or seemingly informative the content, then sliders, image galleries, and videos will only be viewed, buttons clicked, texts read, and PDF documents downloaded if they actively contribute to achieving the goal.

Usability includes technical performance

In addition to graphical design, the technical preparation is a key aspect of usability. Large images, videos, interactive graphics, and other moving elements look stylish but significantly increase loading times. The problem is that not every user has a fast internet connection available. Optimal loading times are important for two reasons. Firstly, shorter loading times reduce the risk of the user losing patience and leaving the site. Secondly, loading time is an increasingly important ranking factor for search engines.

SEO and Usability – a strong team

SEO ensures the necessary traffic flow through organic search results. However, your focus should not solely be on attracting visitors. Without user-friendliness, your visitors will soon leave, usually without converting. If you focus solely on SEO for your OnPage activities, you are missing out on much potential.

Conversely, if you focus only on usability, you reach a significantly smaller audience that converts well but may not generate enough revenue due to its small size to financially support the company behind it.

Opting for usability does not mean writing off SEO. Those who think SEO only serves to rank number one in Google's organic search results and drive traffic to the site are thinking too narrowly. In addition to achieving good rankings in organic search results, SEO aims to ensure users can navigate the site effectively. This aligns with usability.

Classic OnPage SEO measures include:

• clear page structure

• logical navigation

• breadcrumbs and HTML sitemap

• pagination

• avoiding 404 error pages

A closer look reveals that these points significantly improve user navigation. Therefore, there are indeed larger interfaces between both online marketing disciplines that do not contradict each other. Good SEOs and user experience managers understand this close relationship and ensure all elements of the website complement each other sensibly.

Continuous optimization is a must

Missing usability usually only becomes apparent when expected conversions do not materialize. Revisions are costly or, in extreme cases, not feasible. Therefore, you should focus on a good user experience when launching or relaunching your website.

However, this does not mean that once your website is live, you can neglect further optimization. If you regularly analyze your website, which we recommend, and notice deficiencies, you should take action and implement improvements. Keep in mind that usability improvements can lead to significant conversion increases.

Depending on the perspective, usability improvements can also lead to a conversion decrease in a positive sense. An example of this is the absence of support inquiries from disgruntled or lost visitors. Online shops and other service websites can particularly benefit from this as they require fewer staff for support work or can assign them to other tasks.

Test, test, test

In usability matters, do not assume that what is self-explanatory to you is the same for everyone else. Just because a website and its elements are intuitive for you does not guarantee they are for your visitors. Web developers and other experts often make this mistake due to their expertise.

You may experience situations where users do not act as you would like, even though the newsletter signup button is placed right in front of them. Therefore, the mantra is: test, test, and test again.

What we can do for you

Do you feel you're not fully tapping into your potential? You already have good visitor flows, but conversions are lacking? Take action and get professional support. We assist you throughout the entire process – from analyzing your website's usability aspects, deriving concrete measures, to implementation and performance monitoring. Contact us!