Posts

Everything You Need to Know About UX User Experience Research

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Everything You Need to Know About UX User Experience ResearchUX research, also known as user experience research, is used by both small and large corporations to help determine what customers want and need in a product, experience or website. Unfortunately though, when consumers hear this term, they have no idea what it means that they often ask what is user experience research. Learning more about UX user experience research can help you to better understand what this research is and how it can be used. Read on to learn more about user experience research.

What is User Experience Research? 

User experience research, also known as UX research, involves studying individuals and evaluating their response. User research may be done when consumers are testing out a new website, looking at a protype product, looking at or listening to advertisement material, or utilizing a service. All in all, a team evaluates the response of the user when they are utilizing something new, and then obtains feedback from the user about their experience with the product, service, advertisement or website. This allows companies to get honest feedback about items before they launch them or roll them out to all of their current customers.

Why is User Experience Research Important? 

User experience research is extremely important for a number of different reasons. These days, there is a lot of competition among businesses. As such, businesses want to do what they can to stand out. Utilizing user experience research allows you to get feedback about your ideas, products or services before you spend the money further developing the product or rolling it out. This gives you unique insight into whether there is a market for your product or service, what people are willing to pay for that product or service, or whether the idea may be a flop. Knowing this before you invest a lot of time or money into your idea can help you to spend on great ideas and help you to cut off bad ideas before they drain your business of valuable money and resources.

What Are the Different User Experience Research Methods? 

When it comes to user experience research, there are a lot of research methods that can be used to gain valuable insight into different users’ experiences. One of the ways that experience can be researched is with focus groups or surveys. Remote usability testing, diary studies, card sorting and interviews are a few of the other research methods that are used. Different companies use different methods, based on what they think is the ideal way to test out their website, advertising methods, products or services. When it comes to user experience research, there is no right or wrong way to get feedback on these items, which is what makes the process so interesting. You can use different methods to obtain feedback, and that feedback can then be used to help you develop new products, make changes to existing services, or determine whether to bring a product to market.

If you have never heard of UX research, you may find yourself asking what is user experience research. However, once you know what user research is, why it is used and what methods are used, you will better understand how valuable this type of research is. This type of research is so valuable because it helps companies learn more about consumers, allowing them to tailor websites, products and services to their customers and enhance their user experience. This also helps to ensure that consumers have the experience, products and services that they want, need and expect. User experience research is changing the way that business operate and the day-to-day lives of consumers.

Preparing your eCommerce store for Christmas

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |ECommerce Store|Preparing your eCommerce store for ChristmasAfter the excitement of Halloween has passed, Christmas comes straight to the fore. Decorations pop up everywhere, with multicoloured lights lining the streets or poised invitingly around shop windows. But how can our online stores join in?
If you have an eCommerce store, you might be wondering how best to prepare it for Christmas. In this article, we look at the best ways to stay competitive online amidst the chaos of the season.

Ramp up customer support

As more people flock to your website, prospective customers might have questions or specific enquiries about a gift. With 75% of shoppers in the UK now doing more online shopping than ever before, you might need to adjust your website to cater for a wider range of clients.

Why not add a live chat feature to assist your customers on-demand? If you prefer traditional marketing methods, a customer support line could be more useful.

Prepare your website

You might need to adjust your website to enable it to handle increased customer demand over the festive period. If you’re not feeling confident enough to get technical, you could consult an eCommerce agency to help you realise your visions for your website.

Create a logical shopping journey

Try optimising your pages with clearer links and a logical structure for your customers to follow. A website that looks sharp and loads quickly will massively improve customer experience, so it makes sense to invest time in your website before Christmas.

Personalise the shopping experience

With competitors trying out similar tactics for their eCommerce store this season, make yours stand out by offering a personalised customer journey. With almost 50 shops disappearing from our high streets every day, there has never been a better opportunity to make your business shine online.

Considering a marketing automation strategy could give your business a boost this Christmas. From empty shopping basket notifications to weekly update emails, keeping your customers in the loop could make the difference between hitting your goals or completely smashing those sales figures.

Keep your diary up to date

It’s important to remember the key dates, events and holidays this winter, even if they’re not celebrated in the UK. Bonfire Night closely follows Halloween, and there’s plenty of colourful marketing potential as people head to firework displays to get festive.

Thanksgiving is largely celebrated in the US, but it could be worth branching out to an international client base if it’s relevant to your brand. Don’t forget the rush for impulsive online sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday – these one-off events could be a goldmine for profit.

Using these tips, your website will be tough to compete with – and you’ll be headed to make record online sales this Christmas.

How To Ensure People Click On Your Site And Stay There

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Website Design|How To Ensure People Click On Your Site And Stay ThereWith any business, side hustle, or project you’re working on, there needs to be an online presence. It never used to be this way due to the fact that there were still many, many people not operating online or using a digital product. In 2021, however, it’s an absolute must. Your website, social channels, and overall presence online should be of high quality. If it’s not, then you’re not going to be taken as seriously, and competitors will overtake you.

Your website is going to act as the main hub of your website. It’ll tell people what they need to know, it’ll hook them in, and it’ll keep people wanting to come back for more. Well, hopefully, it will! Your job is to make sure that people want to come back, view your site again, and become even more invested in the thing(s) you’re offering. How can you do that? Well, here are a few ideas:

Don’t Be Like Everyone Else

If you have the same website like every other company in the world, then you’re not going to be very impressive or attractive. This happens a lot when a niche has been completely covered by every single business. You’ll want people to see something different in you – so make sure that you have a little bit of uniqueness. It’s easy to look at successful companies and take little nuggets from them, but that won’t land you in lots of success.

Don’t Bombard With Content And Information

When someone first enters your webpage, they’re going to want to be pleased with what they see. First impressions make a big impact on the human brain – especially with regard to customer experience. Make sure you set the right tone. If you have lots of pictures, images, and information straight away, they’re not going to be happy. They’ll feel somewhat overwhelmed, in fact.

Work Together With Agencies That Have Been There And Done It

There are hundreds of digital marketing agencies around that know how to make your website and your overall online presence a lot more attractive. They won’t just give you generic advice, either – they’ll take a look at your project and cater to your needs. You will also want to work with an SEO Company in order to boost your search engine optimization and score. This aspect is absolutely vital when looking to make your website rank highly online.

Give Them A Reason To Stay Hooked

You’re going to want to offer up high-quality products and services, obviously, but the way in which you point towards them will make a difference in terms of your success. If you have a bland, boring, and colorless advertisement, people aren’t exactly going to be enthused. Offer up extra incentives for them, and they’ll want to see what you have up your sleeve going forward.

Provide Attractive, Interactive Content

The good thing about websites is that they’re not like books in that you just look at them and get information from them. You can click on certain widgets and get involved. There are many kinds of interactive content that you can implement – including videos, graphs, polls, competitions, and so much more.

Key Things to Remember When Setting Up Your Business Website

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Business Website|Key Things to Remember When Setting Up Your Business WebsiteYou’ve decided it’s time to set up your business website, but what are your next steps? A business website is a big opportunity, but there are plenty of things you need to remember when it comes to planning your online presence.
Here are some important things to remember when setting up your business website.

User Experience

It’s easy to focus internally on your business when creating a website, but you’ve always got to remember the user is one of the most important aspects of this process.

You can make your website do all these fancy things, tracking analytics, helping you create leads, and so on, but if you’ve not got a good user experience, then it’s all going to be for nothing. As a consumer, you know how frustrating websites with a poor UX can be, so don’t let your website be one of them.

Security

Security is a huge priority for any modern business. When it comes to your website, you’ve got to make sure you’re protected, and your users are too.

If your website fails to protect its users from things like cross-site scripting, then it can do huge damage to your brand and seriously affect your business. We see big security incidents on the news all the time, and it can happen to any business if it is not investing in cybersecurity.

Invest in Quality

There’s no point in creating a bare-bones website. If you’re going to have success with it, then you need to build it out properly and invest in your content.

Your website is always evolving and growing, and this reflects your brand. As soon as you stop updating your site, it will lose some relevancy, so it’s best to keep investing and keep growing what you’re doing.

Get Your Site Ranked

No matter how big or small your business is, you have the ability to rank your website in the search engines. This can bring in targeted, sustainable traffic, so it’s well worth focusing on your search engine optimization and following the right steps.

SEO might seem like something very technical, but in reality, it’s not. It’s just about following good practices and making sure your website appeals to the right audience. If you can do this, then you will find you start to have success in the search engines.

Share Your Work

If you’re doing amazing work with your website, then share it with as many people as possible.

Create social media accounts and get your message in front of a large audience. You can build your website and hope people find it, or you can be active and make sure people find it. Sharing your work is easy to do, and it can be a great way to introduce people to your brand.

You have gone to the effort of creating the content, so make sure you get the most value out of each piece by sharing it on multiple platforms.

Standing Out in eCommerce: It’s Not As Easy As You Think!

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |eCommerce|Standing Out in eCommerce: It's Not As Easy As You Think!The last few months have taught us a lot about business. Specifically, they’ve shown us which business models lend themselves well to change, and which do not. At a time when most of the consuming world has had to remain indoors, the retail sector in particular has had to face some particularly hard truths.

Many brick and mortar retailers, especially, have thought twice about embracing eCommerce. A prospect to which they may have been resistant for the longest time. Likewise, many who have long thought about trying their entrepreneurship may use this as the impetus they need to start their own eCommerce brand.

But in an era where the online marketplace is more bustling than ever, how do you stand out among legions of competitors? It’s not as easy as you may think. Here are some tips to get ahead.

Know what you’re selling and who you’re selling to

No matter how awesome your product is, it’s not a case of “if you build it, they will come”. You’ll need to carry out meticulous market research. You’ll need to know who you’re selling to, and why your product is appealing to them. This will inform virtually everything your eCommerce business does. It will inform your branding, your marketing and the product ranges you offer.

Invest in awesome UX

It goes without saying that you need a gorgeous website. A website that’s responsive and looks amazing both on a desktop computer and a mobile device. Your own app will also be a good idea if you expect to engage digitally savvy consumers.

However, looks aren’t everything when it comes with web design. You’ll also need to build in a satisfying and intuitive User Experience (UX) element. UX can drive sales, improve conversion rates and help you target shopping cart abandonment. An ecommerce agency will help you to get the most out of your website’s UX as well as ensuring that you make all the right impressions with the consumers who will be your loyal customers.

Have a great incentives / rewards scheme

In a time of stiff competition, it’s not enough to assume that your products are better than those of your competitors. Heck, depending on the consumer, it might not even matter. You need to provide an incentive for consumers to try your brand at the expense of your competitors. And if you’re targeting value-conscious consumers, your rewards / incentives scheme might just be your USP.

Ideally, it should encourage repeat custom and referrals, providing rewards both for customers who refer their friends, family and colleagues to your business and for the newly referred customer.

Embrace brand storytelling

Finally, it’s not enough to have clever marketing. Your branding needs to tell the audience a story. We human beings love stories. We’ve been using them since time immemorial to make sense of the world around us. Video platforms such as YouTube and, of course, your social channels can be a great way to tell stories that align with your brand, as well as providing a talking point that encourages engagement with your brand.