In this week’s Princh Library Blog post, recurring guest writer Sam L. Bowman covers how your library can improve the user experience on its webpage. From optimization basics to specific accessibility guidelines, Sam provides plenty of examples and useful tips. Enjoy!

Libraries are making a comeback in the post-pandemic world. More people are using libraries to access digital resources, and many communities are rallying around their local libraries to ensure that future generations will have access to free, authoritative information.

However, libraries must pivot towards serving emerging user trends to remain relevant. Modern libraries must have a digital presence that is just as thoughtful and well-planned as the Dewey decimal system or their on-site signage.

Enhancing the user experience for users who utilize library services in the digital age can be straightforward, too. Libraries can easily enhance customer satisfaction by optimizing their web presence and improving navigation. Doing so will boost traffic and ensure that libraries continue to thrive in the digital age.

Optimization Basics

For information seekers, there’s nothing more off-putting than a wait time. Website optimization can reduce load times, improve navigation, and minimize bounce rates on a library’s website. Speed is essential for ensuring visitors use library resources, as they won’t stick around if they have to wait for pages to load or find it challenging to navigate between pages. Libraries can enhance the user experience and optimize their web presence by:

• Designing for Mobile: The majority of web traffic now occurs on mobile phones. Libraries must adopt a mobile-first method of progressive enhancement to improve accessibility of core content.
• Performance: Slow load speeds and more responsiveness will undermine any website. Libraries can improve performance easily by reducing the size of images, lazy loading in the background, and using a Content Delivery Network that cuts down on load times.
• Continuous Improvement: Adopting a continuous improvement approach ensures that content remains fresh and that the user journey is as smooth as it can be.

Libraries that wish to incrementally improve the user experience can use A/B testing to evaluate the effectiveness of new features and elevate the user experience. Rolling out an update without proper testing is sure to drive traffic away from the page when users find bugs and errors.

Learn the key aspects of Princh! Watch our on-demand demos at your convenience and see what makes Princh such a simple solution. Watch our demos here.

User Friendly Landing Page

People who navigate to a library’s web page need to feel just at home when online as they do when they walk into a physical foyer. Libraries can pivot towards the new era of service by foregrounding pages that are in high demand. For example, if libraries receive requests for e-books, information regarding the most commonly requested items should probably appear on the homepage. Other ways to optimize the landing page include:

• Defining goals and establishing the “next steps” that users should take;
• Customizing design to foreground ease of use, improve engagement, and reflect the library’s brand image;
• Produce compelling copy that drives users toward a CTA;
• Test, monitor, and tweak landing pages based on web user analytics.

Optimizing landing pages is key, as they’re usually the first impression that users receive. Creating positive first impressions is as vital for organizations as it is for people. Providing a user experience that aligns with visitors’ desire for easy access, intuitive user design, and straightforward transactions will meaningfully bolster library traffic — both online and in-person.

Enhancing Accessibility

Accessibility is central to any library’s efforts. People from a range of backgrounds and abilities will make use of the library, meaning that the library’s web presence must be optimized to meet the needs of all users. Those designing and refining the library’s web presence can get the ball rolling by striving to exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which states that web pages should be:

• Perceivable: Alt-text and text alternatives must be available, and content should be made with assistive technology, such as screen readers, in mind.
• Operable: Some web users do not use a mouse. Therefore, web pages must be operable using only a keyboard or alternative navigation technology.
• Understandable: Content should operate in predictable ways and any clear and obvious mistakes should be avoided.
• Robust: Tools should be compatible with a range of tools and should include form elements, links, and components that are easily navigated.

Actively enhancing compatibility for web users can also improve the on-site experience for many library users. By improving accessibility, libraries may offer tools and technology like VR assistants, AR experiences, and interactive learning tools that bridge the gap between the library’s physical and digital assets. A diverse media selection can be a real boon for modern libraries that need to generate increased interest in their services.

Conclusion

Enhancing the digital user experience can boost engagement and support libraries’ efforts to remain relevant in the age of smartphones and social media. Leveraging cutting-edge approaches to challenges like social media can attract more patrons and lead to improved service for the local community. This can be a real boon for libraries that are struggling to generate foot traffic and need to create greater cohesion between their digital and physical assets.

We will be back with another interesting article from the library world soon!

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