Social UX is the integration of social media and user experience. Many website owners underestimate the benefits that implementing a social UX strategy can bring to their website. In addition, there are many websites out there which implement a poor user experience strategy just because they copied their competition. This ultimately results in a decrease of the website’s social activity. What can be done in order to avoid this happening and to make your website a socially-rich place? Here are 6 simple tips to get going:
1. Decide over the demographics
Undoubtedly, you will want to provide some shortcuts for your users to follow your links, reach your profile, like your posts, or sign in to your website using their social network accounts. In this regard, it is important to know the demographics of your visitors and which social networks they are likely to use. This can be quite simple to find out. If they share the same interests and preferences as you do, then chances are they will be on the same social networks that you commonly use. In addition, it is common knowledge that many people prefer Twitter and Facebook for sharing stories, news and the like.
2. Enable the social comments
A large number of sites already allow their visitors to post using their Facebook profile, but for those which have not enabled this facility, they must act now. Such options will especially suit the bigger or private-owned sites that allow comments only when the user has a profile registered. In this regard, social comments can truly boost your number of accesses, mainly because comments add something to the story, but also because users may share the fact that they commented on your site with their social network friends.
3. Focus on making the website usable for everyone
Although most people are present in the social media environment nowadays, some of them simply prefer not to use it on other sites. In this regard, it would be a good idea to let them register a profile with ease (the entire process should not take more than 2-3 minutes), which they can later use for commenting, voting, etc. If you prefer to make your website accessible to an even larger range of people, then you may enable everyone to comment under an anonymous profile, although this option is not recommended for all businesses.
4. Avoid featuring floating pads
If you want to keep your users satisfied, then you have to avoid the usage of floating pads. Floating pads represent little web elements which remain obtrusive as you scroll. They don’t disappear even if you share the news/article with your friends. These little elements can be a burden to the eye of the user and also occupy important space of the webpage, which you can otherwise use for different purposes.
5. Do not use unnecessary live chat apps
There are many anonymous or passive-name live chat communication systems which can be integrated on a website. While one might think that such tools can improve the social activity and comments on your website, in fact, the truth is quite the reverse. Such programs are usually resource hogs and are able to slow down your webpage loading time, especially for users who don’t have a broadband internet connection
6. Use a forum, but let everyone access it
For certain businesses, it is recommended to create a forum where visitors can exchange opinions or share key points about your website or topics of interest. However, if you keep this forum private and enforce registration even for basic access, then few will be interested to actually give it a try. Forums may prove to be a valuable resource and a great way to add a community feel to your site, but in some cases, keep in mind, they might not work.
Conclusion
Social UX is a very important part in any web-based business, and those who ignore it are likely to miss a very profitable audience. When trying to build yourself a better social profile and boost your activity on the social networks, it’s important to make the user feel like he is on top. In this regard, the 6 tips enumerated above should prove highly useful.
Want to learn more?
Are you interested in the managerial and strategic aspects of UX? The online course on UX Management and Strategy can teach you the necessary skills on the subject and earn you an industry-recognized course certificate to advance your career. If, on the other hand, you want to brush up on the basics of UX and Usability, the online course on User Experience might be a better fit for you (or another design topic). Good luck on your learning journey!
(Lead image: Depositphotos)
