It’s a fact of the internet that a lot of websites do essentially the same thing. With so many options for the same basic services, the question arises: Why do some sites get far more traffic than others?

Aside from the simple answer of different content to fit people’s interests and needs, user experience is a vital factor in whether a site stands above the crowd or fades into the background. The best websites offer a better experience for visitors, and that keeps them coming back in the future. Keep reading for a few tips on improving user experience to grow your website’s community.

Make Things Easy on Visitors

One of the central focuses of improving user experience should be to simplify navigation and use of the website. Good design does more for a website than simply adding flashy images and graphics. It also makes the user experience easier and better.

Think about what your visitors want out of your website and how the typical user is likely to use the website. If there are features missing or the navigation proves difficult, make some changes to accommodate your visitors.

This is particularly important now that mobile devices are in such widespread use. Be sure to factor in phone and tablet users, and think about offering an alternative site for people accessing your page that way.

Lots of sites offer the same thing, but some sites offer it in better, more attractive, easier-to-use ways. Think about unique solutions for your visitors and how you might offer a better navigation solution to make for a better experience overall.

Steal Techniques

The most popular websites out there are popular for a reason. Take some time to consider what certain model websites (or even competitor websites) are doing to attract traffic, and consider whether you might be able to implement a similar system.

In terms of user experience, adopting new techniques will apply to the structure of your website and how people use it rather than what your site actually offers. That means that if you see a great navigation layout or a particularly user-friendly online store, you can modify those techniques to fit your own website’s needs.

Of course, users (and other sites) will realize when you are imitating their systems, so be sure to adapt the overall principles of whatever technique you are considering to the needs and characteristics of your own brand. It doesn’t make sense to make changes if they don’t fit the scheme of your website as a whole.

Content is (Still) King

When building and tweaking websites, people sometimes lose track of what users are really looking for online: high-quality content. A business can shoot up the search engine rankings with rigorous SEO efforts, but a high placement on search engine results is only beneficial to a website if people are actually interested in what the site has to offer.

Keep in mind that the user experience is not just about how users interact with a site. It is also about what users find there and why they might be visiting a site. For the best user experience possible, focus on providing consistently strong content across the board. For online stores, that means having specific, well-edited product descriptions and reviews. For brick and mortar businesses, that means providing clear descriptions of the services offered without over-selling the product.

You can grow your audience, of course, by offering more and better content. Think about offering a blog or setting up an interesting social media feed. Above all, users appreciate high quality content.