A lot of websites suck. They fail to combine a story with good design and create an experience that is at best memorable and at worst unpleasant (“I want to be memorable,” no website ever said.)
The opposite is true for websites that use the winning formula of compelling storytelling UX design.
When websites tell a brand story, they inspire users to stay on a website and learn more about a company beyond the home page. Good design paves the way for deeper engagement.
It’s a formula that can transform a website from boring to great and convert users into customers.
Why you need a well-designed website
You only have a few seconds to capture a user’s attention. So make a good first impression with a well-designed website.
A website with confusing navigation or walls of text will overwhelm users. Why should lingering on the site be a huge headache when there are others to click on?
In contrast, a website with a professional appearance creates credibility and invites you to linger. Good design shows that you care about solving problems without wasting time, thereby influencing users’ perception of your brand.
Whether you gain loyalty and convert a user or not depends on the impression you make with your website. It’s worth investing time.
Design for good user flow and good user feelings
Users who visit a website follow a specific path as they click through the website. This click path is called the user flow.
UX design, i.e. the experience of using a website, defines the feeling of user flow. Are the pages easy to navigate? Is information easy to find? Is it so simple that someone from another planet could use it? Design decisions make the difference between a happy and a frustrated customer.
While websites may vary in appearance, these common UX design elements are essential for every website:
- The interface. The connection between the user and your website is important for conversion. It should be easy – even very easy – for users to do what you want them to do on your site. Don’t worry about impressing the CEO or having a “wow factor.” Worry about your users’ experience. It is their opinion that determines success.
- This needs to be intuitive and straightforward. If you want your customers to contact you, make it easy for them to do so without outside help. Users should never feel lost or confused about what to do next. Storytelling for web design reflects a choose-your-own-adventure book or provides a clear path forward.
- When users interact with elements of your website, such as filling out a form or processing a payment, everything should work smoothly. Users should move seamlessly from one step to the next. Fewer obstacles lead to better conversion.
To determine whether your website is engaging users, know your bounce rate.
Avoid a “bouncy” website
Have you ever spent an entire evening watching the first few seconds of a TV show, waiting to get hooked enough to sit through an entire episode?
People are looking for experiences that reward their time with something exciting and valuable, and they want this to happen quickly. The same applies to websites too.
Bounce occurs when someone clicks on your website and then navigates away or closes the window.
You’ve probably opened many websites that you immediately clicked away from. Next time this happens, think about what design elements motivated you to jump ship. Studying your reactions as a user can help you avoid errors on your website.
The goal is a low bounce rate. Your bounce rate compares the number of users who bounce versus those who continue to click on the site and remain engaged. When a website has a low bounce rate, search engine algorithms see this as an indication that the website offers high-quality content.
Check your bounce rate using Google Analytics or find the rate by dividing the number of bounces by the number of visitors. A good guideline for bounce rate is to stay below 40%.
Tell a story worth sticking with
To combat a high bounce rate, your website should be easy to navigate and tell a good story.
Storytelling is how we connect as people. We use it to share relevant experiences with family and friends and to market our ideas and products. Facts alone will not be as compelling as facts combined with a narrative. Stories help people understand the impact of facts and information on their lives.
Stories create meaning and shared emotional connections between customers and a company. The sooner that connection occurs, the more likely users are to stay on a website.
Three common elements make a brand story successful, regardless of the specifics of the story.
Compassion
A good brand story leads to user empathy. Think about what you would like to hear if you were in their shoes.
You may solve a problem they wish they didn’t have. Instead of focusing on the size of your business, focus on the relationship with your customers. For example, if you’re a plumber, talk about how quickly you respond to unwanted problems and how quickly your customers can get back to their lives before the big pipe burst. Users will feel understood and valued.
Educate
Create content that provides a simple solution to a clear problem. Users will be eager to hear a story that ends with their problems solved.
Don’t just explain your product or service. Address your customers’ real-life situations, such as the plumber who understands that a burst pipe is an unexpected problem that needs to be fixed quickly.
A tip: Don’t be afraid to offer information for free to show your value. Generosity breeds loyalty, and that converts.
Engage
Keep your customers immersed in your website and your brand story with engaging content.
Provide clear information, use relevant images, post videos, share your knowledge, offer a free download, post customer reviews, and suggest what users can do next to interact with your story, be it , that you call a number, learn more about your services or visit another site.
Enhance your story with UX design
The story you tell will influence user flow and UX design. This story should begin as soon as users click on your website.
Your user should never stop and ask, “Now what?” Instead, good design should invite them to delve into your brand’s story.
A good story has a clear introduction and conclusion, and a good website design starts with the home page and ends with a desired action. It creates a transparent and seamless user flow throughout the entire experience.
An attractive homepage headline can clarify your story and what you stand for. A suggestion of what to do next can help users further engage with this story. You might have a button that encourages them to click to learn more, a link to a portfolio, or an invitation to download a free resource.
Each part of your website should be tied to your brand story and provide a clear roadmap for working through each “chapter.” Keep it simple. Users become confused – and uneasy – when you try to tell multiple stories or offer too many options.
Storytelling and UX design merge when the story is compelling without being complicated.
What about SEO?
You may be wondering how storytelling and website design affect your SEO rankings. Some companies sacrifice a high-quality story in favor of quantitative content in order to achieve high SEO ranking. These tactics fail, especially when they ignore user experience.
Good stories reduce the bounce rate. They convert clicks into customers. They offer authentic value. If your website combines story and design, it is already optimized for SEO.
And it won’t be another website that sucks.
