As you follow through on your 2010 resolution to improve your company’s website, here’s a little more food for thought pertaining to user experience. Of course, user experience relates to how visitors interact with your site — click-through rates, time spent on your site, overall satisfaction with your interactive interface, etc. Improving user experience is an ongoing project, but it’s a project that deserves attention and focus. Picture a disorganized, frustrating setup in your local grocery store, causing you to spend too much time finding the items on your shopping list. Would you be inclined to revisit this store in the future, or would you find an alternative?

The same goes for your website. Just as you most likely wouldn’t go back to that store, dissatisfaction online results in empty, abandoned shopping carts. The common thread? Poor experiences.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “Three-Click Rule,” which states that users will typically leave your site after three clicks, assuming they still haven’t found what they’re searching for. This old adage is a bit outdated, but something can be said for it. The more-common argument today is that the value of clicks outweighs the number of clicks (or lack thereof). In fact, studies have suggested that consumers click way more than three times per site.

While users today are willing to click more, they generally don’t mind as long as each click is easy and reassures them that they’re on the right track, rather than being sidetracked on an endless path of needless clicks. If your site is full of “Click here for more information” links, your potential customers are being led on a lost-treasure hunt. How will they find their way back?

My suggestion is to marry the two aforementioned ideas. Search engine optimizers want more clicks; a good user experience leads to more repeat visits and clicks, which results in greater SEO. At the same time, consumers are busy and on the go, and impressions of your site generally occur within seconds. Therefore, your sales conversions will likely increase if your users can find the necessary information quickly. If it takes several clicks to help drive that information home, OK. But try this.

Revisit your sales-conversion path. Then, eliminate unnecessary steps. If you have PPC ads, be obvious about where you’re sending the shopper so he or she knows what to expect. As a writer, I would focus on eliminating unnecessary copy on your website or landing pages. Much of the copy on many websites today just takes up space. Filler. Clutter. Distraction. Use bullet points to organize your thoughts cleanly on a landing page. By consolidating your copy, you can reduce page length and fit more of what’s relevant, possibly reducing the number of pages and clicks needed to reach the final destination — a sale. You just might improve the user experience in the process. So be concise. Get to the point.

Just a little food for thought.