Content is No Longer King: Why You Can’t Ignore UX

When was the last time you really thought about your website? For a lot of businesses, a website is that thing that they don't really think about until it’s time to make an update or update a plugin.

But a good website is not only a good idea, it’s crucial to the success of your business. Especially in 2019.

But what makes a good website? On a recent episode of The Industrial Executive, Chad Pierce from A Design Link stopped by to talk about good web design, great user experience, and why you have to have both to have a successful web presence.

Web First

It’s been said that 80% of the people that will contact you through your website have already done their research on you and your competitors. That means that before they even contact you, they already have an opinion of you.

It’s no longer enough to just have your website be simply a listing of your products. The days of a website being a mere product catalog are long gone. You’ve got to be willing and confident enough in your product to provide more information.

Content Is No Longer King

Imagine going to a website looking for information. You find one that seems great, but it takes 15-20 seconds to load. Or there are large sections that are missing text headers or have broken image links. Or maybe it takes 10 clicks to get where you need to go.

How long are you going to stay on that site? Probably not long.

It’s no longer good enough to simply have great content. You’ve got to build a quality user experience. It’s about providing contextual experience. Otherwise, black text on a white background is all your site would need.

How you present yourself will speak volumes to your customers, far more than the actual content you’re providing.

What Makes Great UX?

What makes great user experience? What takes a site from just okay to outstanding? It’s all about being thoughtful and empathizing with the people on the other end of your site. It’s not about any one piece of the puzzle. It has to be a holistic approach.

Say you’re a hospital looking to create a new user site where people can check in before they arrive, which would drastically shorten wait time. You wouldn’t just throw a bunch of information onto the site. You’d talk to people. You’d get to know your users. How are they engaging with your site? Where are they when they’re engaging with your site?

Unless you actually engage with your users, learning who they are and what they want, you’ll never create a site that will take you where you want to go.

This post is based on a podcast with Chad Pierce from A Design Link. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Industrial Executive.