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With the abundance of visually stunning, flashy, eye-appealing WordPress themes, it is easy to choose flash over substance. However, looks aside a good WordPress user experience requires functionality and easy of use for the site visitor.
Most users get mesmerized by the visual nature of a theme to the point that effectiveness gets lost in the shuffle. Top-selling or most downloaded themes are usually more visual then effective. Themes can become a collection of flashy features that may not work well together.
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The following five items provide a guide to evaluating and improving your site’s WordPress user experience:
1. Start With A Review Of Your Home Page.
Although people come to your site through many different doors, your home-page is still likely to be the most visited and most important page on your site. This page should quickly convey that your site meets a visitor’s needs. Review each element of your home-page and assess it for relevance Remove or replace those elements that do not make a positive contribution or help the visitor.
Consider creating a Tagline, if you have not already. A tagline immediately sums up what a site is about. They are a terrific aid to visitors and should be prominently displayed
[su_quote]User Experience (UX) involves a person’s behaviors, attitudes, and emotions about using a particular product, system or service. User Experience includes the practical, experiential,affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership.[/su_quote]
2. Evaluate Navigation
The quality of your content is only as good as visitor’s ability to find it. Make information easy to find. There should be multiple ways to get to a certain piece of information. Menus should be as simple as possible. Drop-down, fly-out, or secondary toolbars can be difficult to navigate and/or understand. When possible use fewer secondary menu options.
3. Evaluate The Timeliness Of Your Content
Content is a major element of the user experience. Your homepage is “prime real estate.” Out-of-date, highly visible content ruins your curb appeal. Not only does it not make the sale, it gives a bad impression of the neighborhood. Obvious examples are latest blog posts, recent events, and latest tweets. Don’t prominently displaylist any content that is not regularly updated. Publish on a regular schedule. Set a time to regularly review your content.
4. Be Sure That Pop-ups and Sliders Are Used Effectively
Pop-up messages that appear on entry to a site and require an action by the visitor create a bad first impression.
A high hurdle for entry to a site puts your site at a disadvantage. Although that action is often just clicking on the close icon or outside the pop-up, your site has interrupted the visitor, distracting them temporarily from trying to complete their task. Give visitors time to determine if the site is relevant to them before displaying a pop-up. Don’t force visitors to take a particular action, especially one that means providing personal details
Sliders
Sliders are an often-misused feature. They are not very effective with a click-through rate of only about 1%.
Last but not least…
5. Use objectivity in evaluating your site.
Step back and think about why someone is visiting your site: what is their motivation? Are they trying to complete a task or answer a question? Returning visitors might just need to know if there’s anything new since their last visit.