5 tips for a user-friendly website

How many times have you taken a pair of scissors or a knife out of your kitchen drawer to open an impossible plastic package? Quite a few times, probably. Fortunately, there are producers who do think about their packaging. Packaging that is easy to open and, if you still need scissors, at least decently cut. Neatly on the dotted line. User-friendly design, they call it. And you can do that with a website too. It’s called UX Design.

What is UX Design?

With a well executed UX Design everyone can use a website properly, without frustrations or ambiguities. UX Design stands for User Experience Design. In other words: a design in which designers look at things from the perspective of the user. Part of it is less irritating pop-ups, clear buttons and a well-organized layout. These enable the user to navigate the site as easily as possible.

From a beautiful design to a useful website


Trends in design vary over time, but the basic principles of UX Design remain the same. For example, when you create a website with images and videos, the loading time becomes a lot longer. With beautiful design, you can scare the visitor away. UX Design tries to prevent that: it is the ideal mix of an attractive and user-friendly design. The end user is central. Because UX Design is less trend-sensitive, we can give you a few lasting tips for a user-friendly website.

1. Link your logo to your homepage

On almost every website, you’ll find the company logo in the top left corner. Users are used to the fact that clicking on your logo automatically redirects them to your homepage. If this is not the case, they have to perform an extra action. This is often experienced as irritating and therefore not conducive to your business. 

2. Clear main navigation

A simple and clear main menu ensures that website visitors can easily find their way around your website. Make sure the flow of the main navigation is no more than two clicks and avoid endless drop-down menus. Try to make it as easy and clear as possible for the user by using a recognisable menu and menu titles.

3. Provide clear CTAs

A CTA, call to action, makes it clear what the visitor has to do. “Order now”, “Read more” or “Contact us” are CTAs you have probably seen before. By using clear CTAs, a visitor knows what you want him or her to do. Also when a visitor wants to take a certain action, for example ordering a product, a clear CTA ensures that the visitor can do this quickly and easily. 

4. Recognisable buttons

If we are talking about CTAs, make sure they are recognisable, for example with a coloured button. Then the visitor can see at a glance where he or she can click. Do you use two CTAs next to each other? Then you can give the “primary CTA”, the CTA you want to be used the most, a striking colour. Make sure you don’t mix all kinds of colours! Keep it in the style of the rest of your website. 

5. Make it mobile-friendly too

A beautiful website on your desktop can be a disaster on your mobile. That’s why it’s important to adjust the design here and there when it’s shown on a smaller screen.  A simple example of UX Design for mobile is the hamburger menu: an icon that you click to bring up the menu items. Handy, because such a menu saves space. It’s nice and easy, but it also provides the user with an extra action to navigate. 

UX Design cannot be ignored

UX Design is not a new, temporary trend that you can just ignore. It’s not about ‘as pretty as possible’ or ‘as easy as possible’. The goal is to guide the user through your website in the most user-friendly way possible.

The needs of the user are the most important

Of course, there are larger adjustments – and many smaller ones – possible in UX Design. But much depends on the website itself. After all, it’s all about the needs of the user. A website with a good UX Design appeals more to the user, so they will have a more positive experience with your company. They are likely to return more often, because the site is pleasant to use. With a smart design, your website can also provide significantly higher conversions, without high marketing costs.