User Experience is a broad subject and covers all kinds of elements of a website from the interface to the way the content is laid out, each element just as important as the last. However, many website owners and designers seem to be drawn to improving the technological side of things rather than the way the content is digested by the reader.

This can cause huge user experience problems and can cost you a dramatic number of followers and users to go to a competitor’s website. Today, we’re going to explore everything you need to know about designing and updating your content’s UX, so it’s scannable, readable and easily digestible, giving your website users the best experience possible.

Using Headers

The first thing you’re going to want to consider is implementing headers and subheadings into your content. Nowadays, content is all about providing a reader with valuable and highly detailed information that they can learn and be inspired from.

Unfortunately, it’s very rare that this can be summed up in a small, 300-word paragraph (unless of course, you’re operating on a website like Quora) but you’ll be expected to exceed at least 500 words, typically into the thousands.

However, having a block of 1,000 words is daunting and overwhelming for the reader, so be sure to split them up into easy-to-read sections using headers and headings. Websites like State of Writing or Grammarix have a tonne of content to teach you how to create a captivating and informative header and subheadings.

Consider Your Font Size

Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of UX design, have you checked the size of the font that you’re using in your content? While it might be fine for you and your team to read, other users of your website may have trouble reading it, and this will only send them to a competitor’s website.

This isn’t just referring to your main content. Don’t forget to turn your attention to your image captions, your headlines, your sub-headings, your footer, your navigation bar text and basically everywhere where there is content. You can use tools like Icomoon and Edge Web Fonts to test and find the right font sizes for you.

Implement a Related Content Feature

This is typically a problem that many internet users encounter when using small websites, but it can affect businesses of all sizes. When you scroll down your website while reading a post and you get to the end, what’s there?

Is it simply the footer of the website, possibly a call to action? This is the ideal location to include a ‘related content’ feature where you can suggest similar posts for your readers to go to next. You can be as creative as you like with this section as the most important thing to remember is that the content needs to be relevant and it needs to tell the reader what to do next.

If you’re looking for more advice on how to use the related content section, or need quick content to link too, you can use online services like Essay Roo and Academized.

Insert Summary Content Blocks

One of the main problems with providing your readers with valuable content is the fact that content can so easily become long-form content which, in turn, becomes boring for the reader to read. It’s a vicious cycle and a hard balance for a UX designer to find.

However, using summary content blocks is a great way to counteract this problem. For example, if you’re writing an extensive guide that’s several thousand of words long, you can add summary points to your content at the beginning or end of each paragraph.

Typically, these are small 2-5 sentence paragraphs written in italics. This allows the readers to skip down to each section and then find out what the upcoming section is about to see if it’s relevant to what they need to know. Services like Boom Essays and Assignment Help are home to professional writers who can help you with these summaries.

Consider the Length of Your Content

While on the subject of content length, and hand in hand with the consideration above, it’s vital that you try to keep your content as short as possible. As we mentioned above, this isn’t always possible or avoidable, but you need to try and cut down your content and be as concise with what you’re saying as you can.

You can also implement content summaries, bullet-pointed lists and other tactics, as listed on Resumention, to help cut your content down to help keep your readers engaged.

Work on Your Content Design

When it comes to laying out your content, not all your focus can simply go on how you’ve divided up all the content; you also need to turn your attention to the actual layout of the webpage that you’re hosting your content on.

For example, if you’ve put your content into your page with images but the images are sticking out of the middle of the paragraphs, making the text and the text direction unreadable, users are going to be instantly put off and will go elsewhere.

Make sure that you’re investing time in the design of your pages, so your content is highlighted and easy to read. You can use online tools and services like Go Mockingbird and Balsamiq to help or create page templates.

Take Note of Your Language

When you’re writing your content, it’s vital that you bear in mind the entire time exactly who your audience is that will be reading it. Many readers will not have a lot of time to read your content, and this means you’ll basically need to put everything into laymen’s terms.

“Try to avoid industry jargon and terms where possible so everybody can understand what you’re saying. Otherwise, people will simply take themselves elsewhere to where they can understand the content they are reading”
– Douglas Boyle, UX Designer at Ukwritings

Conclusion

As you can see, making your content scannable, readable and ideal for your readers from a UX perspective isn’t difficult or challenging, it simply requires you to pay attention to your user’s needs and expectations. Put your reader at the core of every little decision you make, and you can be sure your website will be a success.

About the author

Gloria Kopp is a digital marketer at Paper Fellows. She is writing Studydemic educational blog and works as a part-time content writer at Oxessays.