What do your users see when they visit your site or app? How do they behave and how do they interact with it? These are questions related to user experience (UX), “the way a user feels when interacting with a system.”
It’s important to recognize those patterns to make more informed decisions. That knowledge will allow you to create content that will not only attract new visitors but also retain your regulars. If you want them back, or you want them to do anything (buy a product, sign up, read an article), improving UX matters.
If you’re using Beamer (if not you should start now), there are many ways to improve the UX of your changelog and notification center. Get better results, more engagement, and even higher sales with just a few tweaks to the way you build content. Let’s have a UX-focused approach!
These are the top 7 tips to improve your site’s UX with Beamer:
Is your content good?
Probably yes. You know that, and I do, but do your users know? Good content is an excellent basis for user loyalty, but you need to work on your delivery. Nobody wants to be the tree that falls in the forest without anyone to hear. And the internet is a vast and dense forest. You are the guide in these woods, and your job is to place the signs, lead the excursion and tell them where to stop and what pages or parts of your site are worth visiting. So when that tree falls, they are going to be already there.
Think in pictures.
The brain processes images faster than text, and people are better at retaining visual information than any other kind. Images will help you not just catch the attention of your users while they scroll but also enhance the reading experience. Don’t think in pictures as just decoration but as an integral part of your content. Think of content holistically. If you can explain something with an image or infographic, do it!
Spend time considering what images are best for your content. Relevance, composition, focus, and quality are all crucial aspects to keep in mind. If your budget allows it, spend on design, and don’t get trapped into using the same stock photos everybody else is using. People will notice. You’re not just trying to stand out among your content but also among all of the competition. There are few things more discouraging to a user than to think “been there, done that.”
Beamer supports images and gifs. You can break long paragraphs with photos to improve the reading flow, use screen captures as demonstrations, or give some life to the content with an expressive gif. You can add images directly from the post editor with a few clicks.
On average people read only 20% of the content in your page and images alone can’t avoid that, but videos do. Use videos to explain complex topics or to promote your brand. Beamer supports Youtube, Wistia, Vidyard, Vimeo, Instagram, and more than a hundred other third-party services. You can embed them directly from your editor by copying and pasting the URLs, no coding knowledge needed.
Lead the way.
Once you have your users’ attention, lead them to the content you want to deliver to them. Use their curiosity to your advantage and include in your content call to actions (CTAs) to draw them to what you want them to see.
Some CTA best practices are avoiding vague language, being personal, create a sense of urgency, and being descriptive. Don’t think of CTAs as a trick. Crafting a rewarding user experience involves finding the intersection of user curiosity and your own goals. Imagine the whole process of your users’ interaction with your platform as a journey from discovery to action and lead them to the right path. See some examples here.
Beamer allows you to use CTAs in all of your posts. You can include a link and a personalized message. Make those messages specific and relevant to the action as recommended by most experts.
Create multiple experiences.
Users are not all the same. They have different interests and backgrounds. If you want to grow your user base, you need to provide an experience that predicts your users’ preferences and use their natural behavior to your advantage. That means creating tailored content that will grab the attention of a particular user and encourage that person to interact. A way to achieve this is by using the information you already know about them. Beamer provides tools that will help you create customized experiences for your users.
Speak in your users’ language.
A tour guide needs to know multiple languages. We know that translation and localization are vital for boosting sales, growing your userbase, and expanding to new markets. It will take more work on your part because native speakers will notice if your translation is even slightly incorrect or unusual. But it will undoubtedly improve your content. Translations are part of UX!
With the multi language feature, you’ll be able to translate your feed and posts to speak to your users in their native language. You can add multiple languages, set a default or fallback, and even add local and contextual nuances to your posts. You can change tone, vocabulary, and delivery according to local cultural sensibilities. Or if you notice that something’s getting popular in a particular country, highlight that in your translation while you focus on other things in the others.
Appeal to your users’ interests.
Another great tool to build personalized experiences is user segmentation. Probably you’re already tracking user data through memberships, user accounts, cookies or purchase history. Make that data useful! If you already know what your users prefer and what they dislike, provide them with content that will certainly pique their curiosity.
Use Beamer’s user segmentation and advanced user segmentation to filter what your users see in your feed. Create segments or groups by place of origin, source of traffic, user role, profile, features used, payment plan, browser, age group, interests, previous interaction, or any parameter you track. Feed that data into the Beamer embed code, and the system will know what content fits for that user. You can also use segments to notify your users only when you publish posts relevant to their interests. Don’t overwhelm them with irrelevant notifications. Show your users you care! You can learn how to do it with this tutorial.
Learn directly from your users.
What if you don’t know what you users want? Then, you’ll need to find out right now! Having a channel to receive feedback will help you improve your brand experience.
Feedback is the best way to understand your users. It helps you measure satisfaction, show you care about your users’ opinions and improve your product. Having this information will allow you to make more informed decisions on your product’s development or your company’s growth. Feedback will enable you to improve UX by giving your users a voice, and also by using that voice to make changes that will be well received. Make safe bets. A UX virtuous cycle!
Use Beamer’s feedback and reactions to collect all sorts of information and testimonials. Improve your site or app, sell more, and gain visibility.
Experience is vital when exploring the wilderness, and I hope you have learned a few tricks to be a better guide for your users. But UX is not a finite journey. It needs to be consistent and revised. These are just a few ways you can improve user engagement with small UX changes and best practices. Use Beamer to its fullest extent and build a stronger bond with your user base.
If you’re not using Beamer yet why don’t you try it out today?