We’ve built a unique process that has stemmed from 21+ years of work that includes everything from lead generation and leading nurturing to conversions. At the heart of conversions, is what we call “Usability Conversion Analysis”.
How would you go about analyzing the user experience of a website, software, or web application? Is it possible to conduct an audit without having access to source code? Can analytics tools tell us whether the site was designed well or not?
Web design has changed dramatically over the years. In the old days, websites were pretty much static. Nowadays, they tend to load pages very slowly because of a lot of extra features such as animations and transitions. It’s also probable that with all the interactivity of a website, people get distracted easily and might leave before they even get to any calls-to-action.
Websites should be built using accessibility principles. These include a good color palette, text size, contrast ratio, navigation menus, etc. to ensure that everyone has equal access to information. The goal is to create a seamless experience so that no matter who is visiting the site, their time is spent reading useful information.
Usability testing is one of the most important things you can do to improve conversion rates on your website. When done correctly, it provides actionable insights into what makes your visitors tick, and how to best convert them into customers. But many people don’t know about usability testing or just think it’s too expensive. In reality, it’s quite affordable, and there are plenty of ways you can test your site without breaking the bank.
Let’s dive in!
While we are just going over the basics here, we have a more in-depth usability conversion analysis e-book if you are looking for more on this topic. Check it out below!
The Importance of Usability Conversion Analysis
A recent study conducted at Harvard Business School found that the average human attention span is eight seconds. This is less than that of a goldfish, which is around 9 seconds.
This means that if you want someone to read something, you better make sure it stands out within those few precious moments. But how do you know what to focus on? How do you find that sweet spot where people keep reading just because they like what they’re seeing? And how do you figure out exactly what needs to change?
That’s where usability conversion analysis comes in. You take a deep dive into everything about your visitors’ journey—from the way they enter your site to the way they interact with your products and services. Then you test different elements of the process to determine which ones work best and which ones don’t. By making small changes to your design, copy, layout, navigation, and even your calls to action, you’ll be able to increase conversions and boost revenue.
There are four major motivations behind conducting usability conversion tests.
- Firstly, you want to know whether your current website is technically sound and performs according to expectations.
- Secondly, you want to evaluate whether your website meets the functional requirements of your business goals.
- Thirdly, you want to figure out how effective your website is at meeting visitor needs.
- Fourthly, you want to learn how to attract and retain more customers.
If you want more specifics on designing a website, we wrote an article to help you with this!
Elements of Usability Conversion Analysis
Usability testing is one of the most important parts of creating a usable product. If you want to know how well your app works, you must conduct some form of usability testing. To do this effectively, it helps to understand what makes up a good usability test. Below we outline the three main components: the facilitator, the participants, and the tasks.
- Facilitator – plays several roles during a usability test. They administer the tasks to participants, observe the participants’ behaviors, and listen/look for feedback. Facilitators should be skilled at giving clear directions and asking open-ended questions.
- Participants – play a critical role in usability testing. Participants are people who use your products and give you insight into how they work. You should recruit participants who represent a wide variety of demographics and experience levels. For example, you might include users who are brand new to your product, experienced users, users with disabilities, and even children.
- Tasks – another key component of a successful usability test. Tasks are the things that participants perform while being observed. These tasks help you better understand how your product functions. Tasks should be simple enough for anyone to complete, but challenging enough to provide useful information about your product.
Types of Usability Testing
Usability testing can be either qualitative or quantitative.
Qualitative testing involves gathering insights into how people interact with products and services. Qualitative tests are best at uncovering issues in the user interface. Usability tests using qualitative methods are more common than quantitative ones.
Quantitative testing focuses on collecting metrics that describe the user experience. Two of the metrics most commonly collected in quantitative usability testing are task success and time on task. Quantitative usability testing is best for collecting benchmarks.
Depending on the type of usability testing you decide to use, the number of participants you need may vary. To conduct a typical qualitative usability study for a single user type, we recommend using 5 participants to identify the most common issues in the product.
With that said, let’s dive deeper into specific tests that can help you with your analysis.
- Heatmapping Usability Analysis – A heatmap is used to represent the data collected during usability testing. It shows where the user spends their time and which parts of the interface they pay less attention to.
- Scrollmapping Usability Analysis – this analysis shows how far any visitor scrolls down a page. The rule of thumb is that the most important calls to action should be placed at the center of the page.
- Click Mapping Usability Analysis – with this type of analysis, you are able to monitor every click that occurs on your website. Using filters, you are able to see:
- New and returning visitors
- How long it took visitors to click
- Which search terms brought them to the site
- What browser they used to access the site
- KPI Usability Analysis – This report measures not just your main goals, but also your key performance indicators, even the small stuff! Whoever said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff” obviously isn’t in the marketing space. Marketing professionals must analyze the minute details to ensure the desired outcome is as attainable as possible.
- Mouse Recorder Usability Analysis – This technology tracks and monitors the movements of the mouse throughout the website. With that knowledge, you can identify which parts of your website may be confusing to your audiences or limiting their engagements in some way.
Usability Conversion Analysis and Conversion Rates
When you improve website usability, conversions increase. The principle is easy: visitors come to your site, instantly see what they need, and buy. You literally, step-by-step, guide them to the desired goal (to buy).
If everything goes according to plan, macro and micro conversions should increase.
A website usability review is more than just improving a design or adding a “Buy Now” button. It involves a deeper analysis. You examine different pathways and visitor behavior on your resources, business objectives, industry, type of the site, targeted audiences, competitors, and other factors. Generally, website audits help to:
- Identify mistakes, glitches, or errors that block visitors from accomplishing intended tasks
- Implement recommendations and improve the design of a site or eCommerce platform
- Improve conversions as well as boost sales and earnings
- Provide a competitive advantage, since visitors will receive everything they want on your site and won’t leave to go to other resources
Most site owners believe that they don’t need to make any changes if their resources follow all current trends.
However, the experience proves that there are always some issues, problems, or small elements that negatively impact conversions.
Usability Conversion Analysis Conclusion
Considering the importance of meeting consumer needs, you should make an effort to adjust your digital product to their needs.
This way, you can take out the guesswork and make decisions based on data.
Moreover, the majority of online UX usability testing tools are able to provide you with numerous additional features enabling you to improve various aspects of your product. Therefore, choosing one of such tools is worth considering.
If you need some more content to read up on about usability conversion analysis, check out our website usability page!
We have helped hundreds of businesses grow, improve quality and find new audiences.
We work closely with our clients to understand their goals and objectives, then develop a strategy to achieve those goals, using a combination of traditional media, social media, and promotion. Our approach ensures results and increased client satisfaction.
If you have any questions about our agency or approach, please contact us and we will get back to you shortly. We look forward to working with you!