The user experience (UX) your viewers take away from your site can make or break your business. The UX dictates your audience’s perceptions, how long they’re willing to stay on your site, and how they feel about your company after they leave. Naturally, optimizing your site’s UX with these factors in mind is a smart goal for any website owner. Here are our favorite strategies for enhancing the user experience on your site:

1. Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

One of the simplest ways to improve your site’s UX is to simply put yourself in the position of your audience to review your page’s usability. Is your page straightforward and easy to understand? How simple is it to navigate?

A good way to review your page as it develops is to get the input of someone who has never seen your site. How easy is it for them to understand? If your test users can’t stand your page, it’s a safe bet that the general public won’t either.

2. Make It Intuitive

A well-designed UX is intuitive for your users. This can apply to your aesthetic style and layout choices, but is particularly important for your on-page navigation. Nobody wants to get stuck in an online labyrinth while shopping or reading articles. An intuitive UX means that your site is easy to understand at a glance and plays into the formats and trends we’re familiar with.

3. Create Visual Appeal

Everyone wants a good looking site, but did you know that quality visual design is scientifically proven to improve audience perception?

In a study of how visual aesthetics impact perceived usability, the research shows that our perceptions of a system are strongly connected to how visually appealing it is. What this means for business owners is that a better looking web page translates to better overall impressions of your brand. Work with your page layout, white space, text balance, and color choices to refine the aesthetic of your page.

4. Design with Purpose

If creating the best UX design is your goal, every design choice must be deliberate. This includes every aspect of your online content, from the location of your navigation menus, to your call to action, to the font and color choices that greet your viewers. Nothing should be placed by accident.

5. Keep It Consistent

Consistency and a positive UX go hand in hand. Subconsciously or not, viewers get dissatisfied with shifting layouts, color schemes, or navigation tools that keep them guessing as they move from page to page.

Inconsistent color themes, for example, appear amateur and send mixed messages. Cool colors give off feelings of tranquility and peace. Warm colors project energy and passion. As we discussed above, every design element has specific meanings behind it and serves specific functions. Don’t abruptly switch styles; select a strategy and keep it consistent.

6. Be Mobile Responsive

In today’s smartphone-crazed world, a quality UX often means optimizing your site for mobile use.

Mobile pages and responsive web design that adapts to fit any size screen can go a long way toward improving the user experience. With Google reporting that mobile search queries are now more common than desktop searches, it’s fair to say that your site’s UX relies on its adaptability to a variety of devices.

The Best UX Design

There are few things as important to your business as the experience you offer your viewers. For the best possible UX design, make your site as easy to use and as simple as possible. Keep your design choices consistent and relevant to the needs of your audience. Above all, try to view your site from the eyes of your audience. Achieving a powerful UX doesn’t have to be hard—but it does have to be deliberate.