UX Audit – the ROI-Positive Investment You Need for Your Website

Data shows that 70% of customers abandon purchases because of bad user experience and 79% of people who don't like what they find on one site, will search for another site.

What does the user journey look like on your website or app? Are you sure that navigating the pages is smooth, intuitive and satisfying?

The truth is, you won't know until you use the right solution: a UX audit.

Let's explore the key aspects of a user experience audit and learn practical tips to increase conversions on your website. In this article, you’ll find out what a UX audit is, why it can be an absolute game-changer for your website, and the benefits it can bring to your brand.

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What Is a UX Audit and How Can It Transform Your Business?

Picture this: A customer lands on your website and their eyes light up as they spot the perfect pair of shoes, mobile phone, or T-shirt they've been hunting for. With a click, those products are in the cart and the user is ready to checkout. That’s when trouble hits.

The checkout process feels like a maze with confusing messages popping up left, right, and centre. Oh, and now the user is being asked to log in again? That’s the final straw.

Frustrated, they leave your site and your potential sale vanishes into thin air. Guess what? This customer isn’t the only one to abandon their purchase.

❗️Think of a UX audit as a comprehensive examination of the user experience, one which covers everything from navigation and layout to visual design and content.

The goal of a user experience audit is to identify any areas of friction that are making it harder for visitors to complete the desired task, such as finding information, making a purchase, or filling out a form. The UX audit doesn’t just uncover usability issues, it also provides you with practical tips and recommendations on how to fix them.

This is why UX audit is so crucial for improving the user journey and boosting the business.

How Rhapsody Conducts UX Audits for Clients?

At Rhapsody, we have developed a UX audit method that is not only comprehensive and detail-oriented but also highly customised to fit the unique needs and challenges of each client.

Our proprietary UX audit framework combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative user insights to paint a holistic picture of your website's performance. By leveraging cutting-edge tools like eye-tracking heatmaps and user session recordings, we uncover hidden friction points and identify opportunities for optimization that other agencies might miss.

Here’s how Rhapsody transforms businesses through meticulous UX audits conducted in several strategic steps:

Step 1: We start with analysing your goals:

• We work with you to define your target audience and understand your desired outcomes.

Step 2: Then we collect user insights and analyse user interactions:

• We analyse user behaviour and gather data to pinpoint navigation issues and understand what users need.

Step 3: We analyse information architecture, content, and messaging:

• We delve deep into visuals (colour, typography, layout) to optimise the user experience and brand alignment.

Step 4: Then we move to analysing design and branding:

• We ensure users can find what they need and that your content speaks their language.

Step 5: Last but not least, we examine usability and accessibility:

• We test how users, regardless of their ability, can complete tasks and find information seamlessly.

Step 6: Based on the analysis, we recommend improvements and create a winning user experience.

With all the data, we pinpoint areas for improvement and provide actionable recommendations.

❗️Typically, the user experience audit with Rhapsody takes between four and six weeks, depending on how complex and big the project is.  

This gives us plenty of time to dig deep and come up with some solid, strategic advice. When you dive into an audit with us at Rhapsody it isn't just about making small, quick fixes. It's about finding solutions that lead to real, lasting benefits and profits.

That's why we always assemble a UX team that includes both Rhapsody and our client’s experts.

💡 Client FAQs 💡

👩🏻‍🦱: “We're focused on meeting short-term marketing goals. Does a UX audit fit into the bigger picture?”

Absolutely! A UX audit tackles immediate usability issues while also providing insights that fuel long-term success. By prioritising the user experience, you build a website that keeps customers coming back and drives long-term growth.

What Are the UX Audit Benefits for Your Business?

A well-conducted user experience audit can reveal where visitors are tripping up on your website or app. It means you’re not acting in the dark. You will find out what to fix and where to fix it so that the user journey is intuitive and enjoyable. As a result, you gain:

• High conversion and lead generation – a UX audit goes beyond basics to optimize conversion paths, guiding users seamlessly to take action.

❗️When UX improves the customer experience, it raises a company’s KPIs by increasing them up to 83% in terms of conversion lift [source: Harvard Business School].

• Data-driven decisions – with a UX audit, you get hard facts that show you exactly where to tweak your website or app. It's like a GPS for a digital makeover.
• Better user retention and reduced churn – a smooth, seamless user experience is not just about making a good first impression. If you make your website or app user-friendly at all times, you will give users a reason to stay.

Timing a UX Audit: When Should You Make Your Move?

While there are no hard and fast rules about when to do a UX audit, there are some moments when it's recommended to take a closer look at your site or app:

• When launching a new website or app – the UX team should pay close attention to elements that can seriously affect the overall usability of an application or website.

• When redesigning an existing website or app – the goal of a UX audit is to find a balance between aiming high and staying grounded, ensuring the redesign delivers real value to both your users and your business.

• When you experience a decline in conversion rates or user engagement – this usually ties in with app or website usability problems such as:

👉 Navigation which is not user-friendly, slow-loading pages above 3 seconds

👉 An outdated design which harms the website’s credibility, with bounce rate over 50%

👉 Poor mobile optimisation - 53% of mobile users will abandon a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load

👉 Irrelevant or hard-to-read content - e.g to many fonts, big blocks of text etc.

👉 Weak CTAs - when your CR (conversion rate) is below 1,5%

👉 Technical issues such as bugs and errors - missing URLs or issues highlighted by analytical tools like Ahrefs, Google Search Console etc.

The Rhapsody UX team starts with a thorough analysis of user behaviour to identify where users are dropping off. This analysis reveals critical points where the user experience may be poor, whether it's a confusing navigation menu, a hidden CTAor a long-winded registration process.

Finally, we streamline and optimise all forms and payment processes. So, we simplify forms, clarify instructions and remove unnecessary steps in order to make the user journey as easy as possible and provide the business with as much quality information as possible.

The Hidden Risks of Conducting an Internal UX Audit

Your company can conduct a UX audit without the direct support of UX experts by relying on internal resources. However, this approach comes with several limitations and challenges. Here's why hiring external UX experts can be beneficial:

The challenges of doing a UX audit alone:

• Limited perspective – internal teams might be too close to the project, potentially missing usability issues that an external expert might spot immediately.
• Lack of specialised tools and methodologies – UX experts use a variety of specialised tools and methodologies to conduct audits. Without access to these resources, an internal audit might not be as deep or as actionable.
• Time and resource constraints – conducting a UX audit requires significant time and effort. Internal teams might not have the bandwidth to do an audit without it affecting their regular duties.

The benefits of hiring external experts like Rhapsody:

• Objective insights – external experts bring an unbiased perspective to the audit, identifying issues that internal teams might overlook due to familiarity with the product.
• Deep expertise and experience – marketing companies that specialise in UX have a wealth of experience across different industries and platforms. This expertise allows them to provide insights and recommendations that are both highly relevant and immediately actionable.
• Access to specialised tools – UX experts have access to the latest tools and technologies for conducting detailed audits, including user behaviour tracking, heatmaps, and accessibility evaluation tools which might not be available internally.
• Actionable recommendations – external UX audits, like the one Rhapsody conducts, typically culminate in a set of actionable recommendations based on the best practices and latest trends in UX design. You can therefore start making the improvements right away, which could lead to happier users and a much faster rise in conversion rates.
• Training and knowledge transfer – in addition to identifying issues, external experts can provide your team with valuable training and insights, thus enhancing their understanding of UX principles and practices.

💡 Client FAQs 💡

🧔‍♂️: “Convincing management to do a UX audit seems difficult. How can I demonstrate the value it brings?”

Speak their language! Show data about how UX audits increase conversions and customer satisfaction, leading to higher revenue with decreased customer support tickets, lower cart abandonment rate or improved customer reviews.

How to convince decision-makers to invest in a UX audit?

• Showcase case studies and success stories – collect examples of businesses similar to yours that have benefited from UX audits. Check out the results from the UX audits we did for Electrifying, AWSM Bank or Rello.
• Quantify potential benefits – when UX improves the customer experience, it raises a company’s KPIs by up to 83% in terms of conversion lift [source: Harvard Business School].
• Highlight the cost of inaction – sometimes, it can be persuasive to show what there is to lose. Improving the conversion rate by 1% can lead to an 11.3% increase in revenue

Uncover Hidden Usability Issues With a Rhapsody UX Audit

A UX audit should not be considered as an expense – it’s an investment in understanding and improving how customers interact with your product.

🧐 Picture this:

A well-designed user interface could raise your website’s conversion rate by up to 200% and a better UX design could boost conversion rates by up to 400% [source: Forrester].

With Rhapsody, you can do a pilot or small-scale test. We can focus the UX audit on a critical section of your website or a specific product feature. This will demonstrate its value with minimal initial investment.

Leverage our expertise without disrupting internal workflows. Contact us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to see if a UX audit is the right solution to unlock your website's true potential.

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