User Experience (UX): Brands in the Battle for Your Attention

1. What is User Experience (UX)?
2. UI vs. Usability vs. User Experience (UX) vs. Customer Experience (CX)
3. Why is User Experience (UX) important?
4. Content UX: designing content your target group loves
5. Is less more?
6. How do SEO and User Experience (UX) go together?
7. UX Monitoring
8. Conclusion on User Experience (UX)

8 seconds – that's how long we give content our attention on the internet. At least on average, and according to a study by Microsoft Canada. We jump from content to content: A swipe, a click and we're gone. The media world has changed significantly.

On the one hand, we no longer have a handful of media to choose from, but an infinite amount from which we can choose exactly the ones that correspond to our taste and our opinion. On the other hand, we are no longer used to dealing with something on the internet for a longer period of time. If content does not “catch” us, we are gone immediately. This should not be a criticism of society. But it's important to be aware of this.

But what does this mean for companies? How can marketing react to this and still win the attention of a target group? The answer is: with a successful User Experience (UX).

Our guest author Marie takes you a little deeper into the topic of User Experience (UX) in this article and highlights different aspects and requirements.

What is User Experience (UX)?

User Experience (short UX) – translated user experience – describes the experience that users have with a product, a service or even with content such as a website.

So the experience that a user goes through while unpacking and turning on a new smartphone is part of the UX. In everyday life, however, the user experience of the product is less important, as the owner no longer consciously perceives consumption. Only in the event of a malfunction will the function (or in this case the non-function) of the device be noticed.

The User Experience, however, is particularly often related to the internet: Here we constantly consume new content and only a successful customer experience can keep us on one page.

The goal of a good user experience is therefore to provide users with a positive user experience by taking into account their requirements and needs and enabling them to interact with the product, the service or even a website in the simplest possible way.

UI vs. Usability vs. User Experience (UX) vs. Customer Experience (CX)

User Experience (UX) is clearly in fashion – the term constantly appears in articles on the subject of marketing. Accordingly, related terms are “buzzing” around the UX. We therefore distinguish them from one another at the beginning.

1. User Interface (UI)

UI refers to the design of the user interface, i.e. how the elements are arranged on the screen, what colors and fonts are used and how the navigation works. So it's about the visual design and interaction of the users with the interface.

2. Usability

Usability describes the degree of usability of a website, an app, etc. – Usability thus considers the experiences during, but not before and after use.

3. User Experience (UX)

The User Experience (UX) describes the experience that users before, during and after using a website, an app, a product or a service. The term takes into account digital experiences of all users, while the Customer Experience (CX) focuses more on customers and is also applicable beyond digital products.

Comparison of usability and user experience (Source: msg Group)

4. Customer Experience (CX)

The term Customer Experience (CX) goes one step further and specifically means the experience that customers have with a company. The whole Customer Journey is in focus: How do potential customers first come across the brand? What touchpoints do they have until the purchase is completed? How does the purchase go? What is the service like? What experiences do customers have with the product or the service?

Why is User Experience (UX) important?

The user experience is important on three different levels for a positive user experience:

• Generating attention: First you have to reach your target group. However, since we only give content a relatively short attention, you can win users for your content with a successful user experience. First of all, we perceive the visual, perhaps also the headline or an initial sentence of an article. And that has to sit. If the users' experiences are positive, you have a chance that they will take a closer look at the content.
• Convincing to buy: Attention is one thing, closing a sale is another. The stretch can be of different lengths depending on the company. With an everyday product (e.g. FMCG), the path can be short, we decide within a few seconds whether we want to buy or not. The path is longer for more expensive products, a classic example here are B2B companies. UX can make an important contribution to this stretch with successful, informative, advisory content.
• Loyalty: The customer journey does not end with the purchase. Customers now only start to experience the product and you can accompany them in exactly this: service teams can support and you can send suitable content for use by email. Positive experiences in this way support the process of recommendation and upselling.

Content UX: designing content your target group loves

A particularly exciting aspect of the user experience is the content experience. It does not mean the UX of a complete website, but specifically the user experience of a text on the website. It's about whether the text is easy to consume or not. This has both a visual and a linguistic level.

Visual level of Content UX

Especially with long texts, users quickly feel overwhelmed. Because it can quickly become strenuous to read online. Text deserts do their part to scare off readers. So try to make your texts as well as your website attractive and keep the design and layout clear.

With these factors it is possible:

• Table of Contents: With a clickable (and possibly also accompanying) table of contents, you prepare your readers for what they will learn in which chapter.
• Info boxes: Design info boxes that you can use as needed in your text. These can be definitions, tips or excursions. By designing a nice box, you loosen up the text and make it easier to read.
• Graphics: Graphics can quickly break down complex issues and also appeal to people who are visually inclined.
• Collapsible elements: With boxes that users can open and close with a click, you provide interactive design elements and shorten your article at the same time without losing content. If readers are interested in the content, they click on the box, if not, then the text does not overwhelm them either.
• Pictures: Depending on the topic, pictures can also provide variety and added value. However, if images are generic, they can scare off users because they have to scroll a long way to get to the information they are looking for. Also, pay attention to Image SEO, to make your images available to both Google and visually impaired people.

Linguistic level of Content UX

On a visual level, Content UX often requires more effort, especially if you have to commission designers or even programmers first. The Content UX should therefore be best considered while you are creating your website.

On a linguistic level, there are much simpler levers:

• Simple sentences: Noun phrases, passive formulations and box sentences make texts unwieldy and difficult to read. Try to score with simple formulations.
• Short paragraphs: Short paragraphs of meaning make it easier for readers to follow an argument chain. Also note that the paragraphs appear much larger on mobile devices than on the desktop.
• Bullets: Bullet points can loosen up lengthy lists. If necessary, readers can quickly grasp and skip the content if it is not relevant to them.
• „Speaking“ headings: Make sure that readers know exactly what content they will find under which heading. This also makes it easier to understand where individually relevant information is.

Is less more?

UX is not equal to UX. In one situation, users need colorful, eye-catching content and designs, in another clear information and a simple user interface. And the user experience must be based on this: on the requirements and needs of the users

In terms of Content UX, this primarily means for informational content like guide articles, that users are usually looking for the answer to their question or a solution to their problem. Here it is not necessary and even obstructive to distract them from reading with too many design elements. A clear structure of the text, which is always accompanied by supportive elements such as bullet points or graphics, is more successful.

Tip: We no longer read linearly online. We do not start with the first paragraph and read stringent to the end. Most readers jump directly to the chapter in which they suspect the hoped-for information and skip the rest. A table of contents can support this process, promote interaction and increase the length of stay, as users might jump off directly if it is not recognizable where what they are looking for stands.

How do SEO and User Experience (UX) go together?

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been closely linked with user experience for several years. At least since the update around the Core-Web-Vitals in summer 2021, it is clear: The page experience is an important part and factor of search engine optimization. While this is primarily about the technical experience, such as reactions and loading times of websites, SEOs also expect an evaluation of the user signals from Google.

So it plays a big role for Google,

• whether users click on content in the SERPs (Google's search result pages) or not,
• how long they stay on the page,
• whether they interact with the page or
• go back to the search results immediately and look for another website.

Because these user signals clearly show how satisfying an article was for the respective user. So today it's not just about writing SEO texts Now SEO also means, to offer users a unique experience. Website operators must know the search intention of the readers and meet them, so that they stay on the page, the rankings go up and the traffic arrives on the page.

SEO and User Experience ideally go hand in hand (Source: Helix Digital)

UX Monitoring

How do you now check whether your website offers a positive user experience? And how do you measure success? There are various methods and tools for the UX analysis that lead you to your goal.

User tests are probably the best, but also a relatively complex method to capture the status quo of the user experience on your website. To do this, you create a group of test persons who do not yet know your website and who ideally belong to your target group. You can either just let them go and do a qualitative survey or give them tasks and measure how quickly and intuitively they find a product or relevant information.

Using eye-tracking technology (e.g. valid Hotjar or Smartlook), however, you can also approach the challenge in a more data-based way.

Once you've evaluated results and implemented some of them, you can measure the success. Website analysis tools such as Google Analytics, Matomo (zuvor Piwik), or Adobe Analytics show you i.a. these KPIs for user behavior:

• Length of stay: How long do users stay on a website? Do you succeed in increasing the length of stay with the help of a user experience?
• Bounce rate: Do users jump off again after visiting a site? Or do you manage to pull them deeper into the site with attractive CTAs?
• Traffic: Positive user signals arrive at search engines like Google and therefore also play an important role in SEO. However, the effect can take a bit longer, whereas the effect on the length of stay and bounce rate is immediately visible.
• Conversions: If you have changed the user experience in the sense of conversion optimization, you can also measure your measures by the hardest discipline.

With the website analysis tools you can simply set comparison periods and in this way compare and assess the KPIs before and after the UX optimization.

Are you looking for more on the topic of user experience? Then take a look at these articles:

• Overview of UX methods incl. Procedure
• Significance, advantages and methods of UX testing
• Relevance of UX writing and procedure
• Advantages and implementation of content testing
• Customer experience in B2B

Conclusion on User Experience (UX)

"The customer is king" – an old-fashioned saying? Already, but in terms of content, it is as current as ever. Today we just call this Customer Centricity. In this sense, the user experience has become an essential part of online marketing. Because the user experience is not an area of product developers, the customer journey begins much earlier.

Marketing managers need to understand how to win and keep the attention of their target audience in order to accompany potential customers on their journey. The tools of UX are important tools for shaping this path.