The Ultimate Guide to Building a User-Friendly Website

Think about the last time you visited a website that was frustrating to use. Maybe the text was hard to read on your phone, the navigation felt confusing, or it just looked outdated. Chances are you didn't stick around for long.

Now, consider your own website. At least half of your customers judge your business based on its design. In fact, research shows that  94% of first impressions are design-related. That means your website is not only a digital storefront; it's also your brand's first handshake. If that handshake feels clumsy or uninviting, you could lose business before you even have a chance to say hello.

Websites don't last as long as they used to. Digital trends change fast, and user expectations change even faster. People want a website that consistently looks good and works effortlessly, so regular updates and adaptations are necessary to keep your website relevant and effective.

Usability creates great user experience. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines usability as how effectively and efficiently users can achieve their goals with a system. In simpler terms, if visitors can’t find what they need quickly and easily, they’ll go elsewhere.

In this guide, we’ll break down what makes a website truly user-friendly—without the technical jargon—and show you how to design a site that attracts, engages, and converts visitors into customers.

The Core Elements of a User-Friendly Website 

A well-designed website is like a well-run hotel. When guests walk in, they should immediately feel welcome, know where to go, and find everything they need without confusion. The check-in process should be smooth, the wayfinding clear, and the amenities easily accessible. If the front desk is chaotic, the hallways cluttered, or the service slow, guests won't stay long—and they certainly won't return.

The same applies to your website. While a visually appealing design draws people in, functionality determines whether they stay. In fact, 42% of consumers will abandon a website if it's challenging to use, cluttered, or slow to respond.

A user-friendly website balances form and function. Every design choice should enhance usability. From the very start of the development process, focus on both your technical goals and the visual journey. Every element—from images and typography to layout and copy—must work together seamlessly.

Here's What Makes a Website User-friendly

• Clear, Well-Organized Navigation – Visitors should find what they need quickly, without frustration. Logical page hierarchy and intuitive menus make for a smooth experience.

• Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Layouts –More than half of internet uses are on mobile devices, so creating a site that adjusts to any screen size is essential.

• Fast Loading Pages –Speed matters. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will leave before your content is visible.

• Easy-to-Find and Understand Content – Information should be accessible, concise, and formatted for easy scanning. Users don’t want to dig for answers.

• Strong Calls to Action (CTAs) – A user-friendly website guides visitors toward the next step, whether making a purchase, scheduling a consultation, or signing up for a newsletter.

• Engaging Visual Design – While functionality is critical, compelling visuals help keep users engaged. High-quality images, well-placed graphics, and thoughtful design choices enhance the experience.

• Easy-to-Read Typography – The best website in the world is useless if visitors struggle to read the text. Font choices should be legible and clear.

• Clear Alignment to Your Brand – Your website should be an extension of your business, reflecting your brand’s identity through colors, messaging, and tone.

A great website doesn’t just look good. It’s also easy, intuitive, and enjoyable to visit, making visitors feel welcome, informed, and confident in their next step.

User Experience (UX) vs. User Interface (UI): Why Both Matter

Understanding who visits your website, what they are looking for, and how they want the information delivered is vital to creating a site that works. That's where UX and UI come in.

While these two terms are often used together, they play very different roles in web design:

• UX (User Experience) focuses on how smoothly and efficiently visitors interact with your site. It's about usability, navigation, and satisfaction.

• UI (User Interface) is the visual side of the website—buttons, layouts, colors, typography, and imagery. It’s what users see and interact with to navigate the site.

A Car Analogy: UX vs. UI in Action

Think of a car.

• UX is how it drives—how smooth the ride feels, how easy it is to steer, and how intuitive the controls are. If the car has a great UX, you enjoy driving it because everything works as expected.

• UI is the design of the dashboard, the look of the seats, and the placement of the buttons. If the UI is well-designed, it's visually appealing, making the experience feel modern and comfortable.

You need both for an optimal experience. A car with a sleek dashboard but a terrible driving experience is frustrating. Likewise, a car that drives smoothly but has an unattractive, confusing interior isn’t enjoyable either.

Balancing UX and UI in Website Design

A user-friendly website needs strong UX and UI. A strategic approach ensures your site is both visually engaging and highly functional. Here are some important tactics to consider:

• Understanding Your Audience & Goals – Conduct in-depth research on your target audience and business objectives. This ensures that the site's structure, content, and calls to action (CTAs) align with user needs.

• Site Organization & Content Strategy – Design a logical site hierarchy so visitors can easily find what they need, with content presented in a way that’s clear and scannable.

• Optimizing Readability & Accessibility – Evaluate colors, contrast, and typography for readability across all devices.

• Prioritizing Load Times & Performance – Assess page layouts, image and video weights, and content distribution to ensure fast load times.

• Technical Optimization – Use images with proper alt tags for accessibility, minify code to improve performance, and ensure all elements function as intended. 

A great website combines both UX and UI principles to create a seamless, enjoyable, and efficient experience for visitors. Let’s dive a little deeper into these strategies, starting with website accessibility.

Accessibility: Making the Web Inclusive for Everyone

A user-friendly website works for all visitors, regardless of their abilities. Accessibility is a legal requirement in many regions. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the U.S. and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) internationally set standards to ensure digital spaces are usable by people with disabilities, including those with vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive impairments.

Yet, despite these guidelines, a study of one million websites found that 95.9% of home pages had detectable failures in WCAG guidelines. Common issues include:

• Low-contrast text makes the content difficult to read.

• Missing alt text for images leaves visually impaired users without context.

• Empty links and buttons make navigation confusing for screen reader users.

Why Accessibility Matters

Prioritizing accessibility protects your company from legal risks and improves usability for everyone. It benefits:

• Aging populations who may struggle with small fonts and poor contrast.

• Users with temporary injuries or impairments, such as a broken wrist or an eye injury.

• People in challenging environments, like bright sunlight or noisy spaces, where they rely on captions or voice navigation.

Best Practices for an Accessible Website

Creating an accessible website requires thoughtful design and testing. Here are key elements to ensure an inclusive experience:

• Include Image Descriptive Alt Text: Alternative text describes images to users who cannot see them. It should be concise, accurate, and relevant to the image's purpose, not just a filename or vague description.

• Use Sufficient Color Contrast: Text should have enough contrast against its background to be easily readable, especially for users with low vision. WCAG provides minimum contrast ratios to ensure legibility.

• Structure Content with Headings and Labels: Well-organized content improves navigation for screen reader users. Headings should be hierarchical and descriptive, guiding users through the page logically.

• Use More Than Just Color to Convey Content Meaning: For users with color blindness, information should not rely solely on color cues. Use text labels, icons, or patterns alongside color to indicate status or interactive elements.

• Ensure Keyboard Navigation: All links, buttons, and form controls should be operable without a mouse. Keyboard-only users (including those with motor disabilities) should be able to tab through elements in a logical order.

• Allow Users to Adjust Text Size and Zoom: Users should be able to increase text size without breaking the site’s layout. Content should remain readable and functional when zoomed in.

• Maintain a Consistent Layout and Navigation: A predictable navigation structure, button placement, and page hierarchy help all users find what they need quickly, even when using screen readers.

• Use Semantic HTML and ARIA Landmarks: Proper use of HTML tags helps assistive technologies understand the structure of a page. ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks provide additional context where needed.

Testing for Accessibility

Even with these best practices, accessibility requires ongoing testing and refinement. Using tools like WAVE, Axe, or Google Lighthouse, evaluate your website for accessibility issues and make improvements. Testing with real users, including those relying on screen readers or alternative input methods, is also essential to ensure an accessible experience.

Mobile Optimization: Why It's Non-Negotiable

With 68% of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, mobile optimization is vital. If your website isn’t easy to navigate, read, or interact with on a phone, you’re losing customers. A mobile-responsive site is standard because user expectations demand it.

How to Ensure a Mobile-Optimized Website

• Mobile-Friendly Navigation: Smaller screens require more straightforward navigation. Use clear and concise menus for easy access. This keeps the interface clean while allowing users to find what they need without frustration.

• Skimmable Content: Keep content easy to review on the go.

  • Use concise headlines and short paragraphs to improve readability.

  • Incorporate bullet points to make information easier to scan.

  • Ensure crucial details are front and center, reducing unnecessary scrolling.

• Touch-Friendly Design: Remember that viewers are using their finders to navigate your site.

  • Design buttons and links large enough to tap easily without frustration.

  • Space out interactive elements to prevent accidental clicks.

  • Design for swiping, tapping, and scrolling gestures for a smooth experience.

• Optimized Forms for Mobile Users: Simplify filling out a form on a phone by:

  • Minimizing the number of required fields.

  • Using mobile-friendly input options such as a numeric keypad for numbers.

  • Implementing autofill to speed up form completion.

• Page Speed Optimization: Optimize page speed by:

  • Compressing images to maintain quality while reducing file size.

  • Using lazy loading, which loads images only when they’re needed.

  • Leveraging browser caching to store static elements and improve performance.

A mobile-optimized website ensures a seamless experience on any device, improving both user satisfaction and search rankings.

Performance and Technical Aspects: Optimizing for Speed, SEO, and User Experience

A beautiful website means nothing if it doesn't perform flawlessly. Just like slow-moving traffic ruins your morning commute, a website that loads slowly or has broken links leads to a negative user experience. But that's not all the risks you face. Website performance also affects your SEO rankings.

Key Factors That Impact Website Performance

Here are some strategies to consider when optimizing your site for speed, discoverability, and functionality.

• Site Structure and SEO-Friendly URLs: A well-organized website structure makes navigation easier for both search engines and visitors.

  • Use clear, descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords.

  • Maintain a logical hierarchy so content is easy to find.

  • Ensure internal linking boosts discoverability and keeps users engaged.

• Redirects and Link Integrity: Broken links hurt SEO and user experience. To prevent this:

  • Use 301 redirects to guide visitors from old pages to relevant new ones while preserving SEO value.

  • Periodically check for and fix broken links that could impact site usability.

  • Maintain a healthy backlink profile on the new site to preserve and improve SEO rankings.

• On-Page SEO Optimization: Every page must be optimized for search engines. This includes:

  • Title tags and meta descriptions that describe the page's content.

  • Heading structures (H1-H6) that improve readability and SEO.

  • Keyword-optimized content that is informative, relevant, and valuable.

• Website Accessibility for Search Engines: Search engine crawlers need clear access to your site’s content.

  • Create and submit an XML sitemap to enable search engines to navigate your site structure.

  • Ensure important resources (CSS, JavaScript, images) aren’t blocked from indexing.

  • Check and update the robots.txt file to guide search engines properly.

  • Remove technical barriers that could prevent search engines from crawling and ranking your site.

• Website Speed and Performance: Slow websites frustrate users and hurt SEO rankings. Enhance performance by:

  • Optimizing images using WebP format and implementing lazy loading to boost page speed.

  • Minifying CSS and JavaScript files to decrease page load times.

  • Enabling browser caching to store frequently used elements and speed up return visits.

  • Selecting a credible hosting provider for fast, stable performance.

• XML Sitemaps and Robots.txt for Better Indexing: Search engines use structured data to crawl websites efficiently.

  • Create and submit an XML sitemap to enable search engines to navigate your site structure.

  • Use a properly configured robots.txt file to index crucial pages while blocking unnecessary ones.

These best practices ensure your website is fast, functional, and optimized. It'll deliver a seamless user experience while improving search rankings and attracting more visitors.

Branding and Content Integration: Bringing Your Brand to Life Online

Your website is an extension of your brand. Whether launching a new site or redesigning an existing one, strive to transform your brand into a dynamic, relevant, and engaging online experience that connects with your customers.

Aligning Website Design with Branding Goals

A strong website reinforces who you are, what you stand for, and why customers should choose you. To achieve this:

• Translate your brand identity into design – Use your brand guide to consistently reflect your brand's colors, typography, imagery, and tone of voice.

• Ensure a cohesive experience – Every element should align with your brand's message, from the homepage to landing pages. If your company includes brick-and-mortar locations, the online experience should be consistent with the in-person experience.

• Prioritize usability and engagement – A well-branded site is intuitive and designed to guide visitors toward a specific action that reflects your brand goals.

Creating Engaging, On-Brand Content

No website succeeds without a clear, compelling, and authentic brand message. This message helps define how visitors perceive your business, creating a distinct and lasting impression.

• Start with Your Value Proposition (VP): Your value proposition is the core of your brand message—it answers the question: "Why should I choose your company over competitors?"

• Keep it Simple & Authentic – Avoid jargon and overly complex language. Share your brand's story, values, and mission in a genuine and relatable way.

• Highlight Your Differentiators – Whether it’s your unique approach, superior service, or specialized expertise, clarify what sets you apart.

• Show You Understand Customer Pain Points – Clearly communicate the problems your audience faces and how your brand provides the solution. Speak directly to their needs and concerns.

• Appeal to Human Emotion – Even in B2B marketing, emotional connection matters. Empathy and understanding help build trust and engagement.

For more information on creating content that cuts through the clutter, read this article.

Your website is one of your most powerful brand assets. Create a site that looks great, speaks to your audience, builds trust, and drives results.

Challenges When Building Your Website

Building a website is a complicated task that requires clear communication, realistic timelines, and adaptability. While every project comes with its own set of challenges, some common roadblocks can significantly impact the timeline and outcome.

Frequent Changes & Scope Creep

One of the biggest challenges in website development is scope creep. This occurs when new features, design changes, or additional pages are introduced after the project has begun. While it may be tempting to add shiny new features and content, if they don't reflect the goals and strategy for your site, they become costly distractions.

While minor adjustments can be easily integrated, more significant shifts can:

• Disrupt the structure of the site.

• Delay timelines.

• Increase development costs.

To maintain alignment from the start, establish a detailed site architecture that sets a clear vision and direction. If change orders arise, address them as they occur and assess their impact early to avoid last-minute overhauls that slow down progress.

Arbitrary Deadlines & Unrealistic Timelines

A common challenge is the push for rushed deadlines, often tied to upcoming events where a completed website would be "nice to have." While urgency is understandable, a high-quality website typically requires around 20 weeks from start to finish.

When a website is rushed:

• Corners are cut, leading to technical debt.
• Functionality may be compromised.
• Additional time—sometimes weeks or months—is needed post-launch to refine the site.

A strategic approach to timelines ensures the final product is polished, functional, and aligned with your business goals.

Feedback Delays & Project Stagnation

Our timelines are structured around a feedback schedule, meaning timely client input is essential to keeping the project on track. When feedback is delayed:

• Development slows down.

• Milestones shift.

• The project extends beyond the initial timeline.

Clear expectations from the beginning lead to smoother workflows. Establishing a structured approval process ensures you make decisions efficiently and reduces unnecessary back-and-forth.

Navigating These Challenges for a Successful Website

Website projects thrive on collaboration, planning, and flexibility. Proactively addressing potential challenges creates a website that meets your goals and avoids unnecessary delays or compromises.

Working With Phase 3 on Your Website

At Phase 3, our web development team always starts with an immersive and comprehensive discovery phase that involves your most important stakeholders. The goal is to outline your most critical goals for your website. This first step ensures that your customers are always top of mind.

To read more about how Phase 3 uses a discovery process to set every website project or enhancement (and your business) up for success, click here.

If you’re ready to get started on a brand new truly user-friendly website, reach out to us today.