UI/UX design isn’t just about looking good; it’s about being easy to use, operational, and helpful for users. When everything is clean, organized, and loads instantly, it’s easy to see why UI/UX has the power to completely transform a user’s experience with your website.
This guide breaks down some helpful UI/UX tips that can upgrade your site and leave visitors with a stellar first (or 50th) impression.
What Is UI/UX?
UI and UX work together to strike a balance between aesthetics and functionality. They’re closely related terms used in the field of web design and development.
- UI or user interface refers to a site’s overall look and visual feel. This encompasses the site’s images, layout, colors, buttons, graphic design, and more.
- UX, or user experience, refers to the logical flow of your website. It dictates how the user interacts with everything (such as links, buttons, or subscribing).
Why UI/UX Matters
Great UI/UX isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a MUST-have. Without it, your site wouldn’t be usable in the first place.
UI/UX gets users from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. It can be the deciding factor between a user becoming a loyal advocate for your brand and never hearing from them again.
UI/UX also makes you look more credible and professional. People are more likely to interact with a website that’s easy to use and thoughtfully designed. This also makes users more confident and comfortable with your brand, leading to stronger trust and more conversions.
In certain industries, especially those people turn to in times of stress (like law firms), branding and visual consistency are extra important. Branding is part of portraying a trustworthy image to potential clients.
UI/UX Best Practices To Follow
Remember these important UI/UX best practices to help users easily breeze through your site.
Loading Speed
Free Online Speed Test Tools
- Google PageSpeed Insights – Measures performance for mobile and desktop, with improvement suggestions.
- GTmetrix – Provides detailed waterfall analysis and performance scores.
- Pingdom Website Speed Test – Tests load speed from different global locations.
- WebPageTest – Very detailed metrics with filmstrip and video playback of rendering.
- Dareboost – Page analysis with performance and SEO recommendations.
Slow websites can be a real headache, so optimizing your page for speed is a great place to start. Analyze your core web vitals to gauge your site’s loading performance. These metrics include:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): How long it takes to load the largest content element (image, text, or video). An LCP of 2.5 seconds or less is ideal.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): How long it takes for a specific element to respond to a user’s actions. INP should be around 200 milliseconds or less.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): The measure of how much a site shifts. Sites should have a CLS score of less than 0.1.
If your site uses many images and videos, use compression tools to reduce their file sizes before uploading to prevent slow loading times.
Additionally, your website may be bogged down with unnecessary CSS or JavaScript code. Minimize or remove any unnecessary code that interferes with important content. This gives your site more breathing room to load faster.
A majority (53%) of site users expect a page to load in less than three seconds. The more people wait, the higher the chance a site visitor will leave your site and end up at a competitor’s URL. Imagine how much it would sting for a law firm, for example, to learn that a high-value case ended up at their biggest competitor over the course of a few seconds.
Mobile Responsiveness
A website on a 16:9 desktop screen provides a different experience than a 9:16 smartphone. With the latter becoming more common, mobile responsiveness becomes more of a priority.
Your website, including images, logos, and graphics, should adapt to any phone or tablet screen. Use scalable vector graphics (SVGs), which provide limitless scalability without losing quality. This retains the quality of your images and graphics, regardless of screen size and resolution.
Ensure that every button and link is both thumb-accessible and tap-friendly. Buttons should be large enough to tap (ideally 44×44 pixels) with an ample amount of white space to prevent tapping on the wrong thing.
Use category pages, drop-down menus, and search bars to make navigation faster and more intuitive for mobile users. These features also keep your site neat and organized.
Optimized Content
Content brings life to your website, whether it’s blog articles, landing pages, videos, or other content. One of the key SEO best practices is to create an on-page and off-page SEO checklist. These are crucial elements that Google looks for when crawling and indexing your site, which include:
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Proper usage of target keywords
- Alt text for images
- Clear headings (H1, H2, H3)
- Internal and external links
- URL structure
- Schema markup
Regularly audit your site to keep things fresh for your audience; after all, no one likes outdated or incorrect content. Check if all pages are up to date with correct and relevant information, updated statistics, graphics, and more. An audit is also your chance to:
- Fill in any content gaps
- Fix broken links
- Add missing alt text
- Hide, rewrite, or remove underperforming pages
So, what types of content should you update? In the cases of legal practices, update landing pages and blogs when new, related laws go into effect. Keeping this information accurate protects your professional reputation and ability to present well to potential clients. Don’t forget to update your Case Studies landing page with each new win you get (confidential settlements notwithstanding).
Accessibility and Compliance
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all websites to comply with ADA rules and regulations. This helps people with disabilities access your site.
Start with your alt text. Alt text gives a brief description of all images, graphs, charts, and other multimedia for those with low vision. Use a clear color contrast ratio between text and background to ensure easy readability for those with color blindness.
Audio transcripts and closed captions for videos are also important for those who are hard of hearing. Ensure that subtitles use a clear, readable font and the appropriate color contrast as well.
Finally, all interactive features, such as links and buttons, should be keyboard-accessible and navigable without a mouse. Use focus indicators to highlight specific elements and guide the user across the page.
ADA-compliant websites are more than following the law — They show you care about everyone and everyone’s ability to access the web. Following these rules also protects your organization from ADA-related lawsuits. Businesses like Domino’s Pizza and CVS Pharmacy have been sued for not following ADA guidelines.
All organizations need to follow these rules. Depending on your organization, that can have an even bigger connotation. For example, if a law firm doesn’t follow the ADA’s points for site accessibility, they not only appear uncaring but also like they aren’t familiar with essential federal laws.
Enhance User Retention With UI/UX Optimization
Don’t underestimate the power of UI/UX. It may look like a lot of work, but it’s a huge requirement for your website to rank and thrive with new visitors.
Digital Authority Partners states UI/UX will continue to play a critical role in ranking websites on the search engine. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression on your visitors, so make it count!
