User experience sounds like a design-school word. It isn’t. It’s whether a stranger can do the thing they came to do without getting annoyed.
Here’s the cheapest test there is. Hand your phone to somebody who’s never seen your site and ask them to find your phone number. Then say nothing and watch. It’s uncomfortable and it will teach you more than any article.
Five things that come up every time.
1. Cut Half of It
Almost every homepage I’m asked to look at is trying to say everything.
Every item on it was somebody’s good idea. Together they fight each other. Pick the one thing you want people to do, give it space, and let the rest go further down the page.
2. Be Consistent
Same colors, same fonts, same button shape, same layout on every page.
When a page looks different, people wonder if they’ve left your site. That tiny hesitation is all it takes. Consistency reads as competence, whether anyone notices it or not.
3. It Has to Work on a Phone
Most of your traffic is on a phone. Probably more than you think.
Buttons big enough for a thumb. Text you don’t have to zoom. Phone number that dials when you tap it. That last one is free and half the sites I see don’t do it.
4. Say What Happens Next
Every page, one obvious action. Call, quote, email, book.
Write it like a person. “Call me” beats “Submit” every day of the week, and “Submit” isn’t a thing anyone says out loud anyway.
5. Keep It Current
Old hours. A staff page with two people who left. A link that goes nowhere.
Each one is small. Together they say nobody’s home. Twenty minutes every few months is the whole job.
The Common Thread
None of this is about taste. It’s about the person on the other end getting what they came for.
Want a second set of eyes on yours? Reach out anytime.