The latest digital marketing buzz has been strongly focused on social media and how to effectively communicate with potential consumers. Although a vital part of digital marketing, Facebook and Twitter aren’t representative of a company - they are their own sites with their own brands, and they’re goal is to help communicate. The face of any company is their website. They may bring in visitors from search engines or a Groupon promotion, but at the end of the day, the user experience your current and potential customers have when they eventually click over to your site is solely representative of you, your brand, and your competitive advantage. Many times the User Experience (often referred to as UX) is a concept that gets lost when careful planning and execution are lacking. UX isn’t something that can be installed or bought as part of a package; rather, it must be incorporated into every phase of the building process, in each step that enhances a site.

UX creates the conception of who a company is and whether that brand is useful, efficient and applicable. The biggest issue is that UX is subjective in nature. Even with the best design and the most enhanced and interactive features, some people may not have as great of a time as others. But the point is to create the best experience for as many people as possible. There are features, applications and navigation schematics to help customize experiences per the user’s wants and goals. In order to create an intuitive Website, here are a few things to keep in mind.

UX Trends and Tips for 2010-2011:

• Break up Content…smaller blocks of text are easier to read. Use headings, colors, sections, concise wording, anything to avoid large groupings of text with no visual break
• Create easy and Clear Navigational Tools. Even the most technically advanced, tiered, drop down, etc. navigation tools are useless unless they flow and are clear and easy to use.
• Point out What’s Important. Eyes need visual direction so avoid information equality in ranking and placement. Rather, point out the obvious hierarchy and visually cue the person to look where you want.
• Know your audience. Who is visiting, what they will be looking for and who you serve are important to know ahead of time, throughout the website design process.
• Large pictures are popular right now and are predicted to continue through 2011. They are, make a statement, and eliminate clicking with scrolling content.
• Slider and Hover boxes are simple, interactive and attractive navigation tools that are increasingly being seen in both large, retail sites and independent boutique web pages.
• One-Page sites and Typography can be used independently. Fonts are creative twists on the provided content while one page sites are the ultimate business card. Often typography is used to make them out than more than just “one page”.
• Sketching for designs adds a personal touch. Websites are already a distant concept, but adding something similar to a sketch pad drawing or scribble gives it a feeling of proximity often missing from site design.

There are many different ways to create an experience- the people who drive your business should be at the core of any design, technology or layout changes. It is they who use the site, they who ultimately drive revenue and they who will spread the word about good products, services, and experiences.