68: UX Testing on A Budget: how to get quality feedback on your project
Want to test how well your website works for visitors without breaking the bank? In this actionable episode of ThinkInsideTheSquare, Squarespace expert Becca Harpain reveals three budget-friendly strategies for gathering valuable user experience feedback. Whether you're launching a new site or updating an existing one, these actionable techniques will help you understand exactly how visitors interact with your content, navigation, and calls-to-action.
Discover how to leverage your existing resources - from social media followers to email subscribers - to get honest, actionable feedback that can transform your website's effectiveness. Perfect for entrepreneurs and creators who want to ensure their website truly serves their audience's needs without breaking the bank. 🎯
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[00:00:00] There's nothing quite like the excitement of launching a brand new website. You've spent weeks, maybe even months, getting everything pixel perfect. The colors are just right, the copy reads amazing, and you're pretty sure you know exactly where everything should go. But here's the thing, what makes perfect sense to you might be totally confusing to your website visitors.
[00:00:23] And that, my friend, is why user experience testing is so important. But user experience testing can get expensive. So in this episode of Think Inside the Square, I'm going to be sharing with you some tips on how you can get quality feedback on your project on a budget. Welcome to Think Inside the Square, a podcast full of tips and tricks to help you create a website that you're proud of.
[00:00:44] I'm your host, Becca Harpain, Squarespace expert and educator and creator of InsideTheSquare.co
[00:00:50] In this episode, I'm sharing some practical ways that you can get user experience feedback without breaking the bank. For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, [00:01:00] visit
[00:01:00] insidethesquare.co/podcast
[00:01:02] Testing your website goes way beyond making sure that the links actually work. It's about understanding how real people interact with your content, your navigation, your calls to action, everything. User experience testing needs to happen at multiple stages of your website's life.
[00:01:20] When you first launch your website, absolutely. But when you add new features, when you change your navigation, when you update your sales pages, basically any time you make a change that will affect how people use your website is when you should conduct a user experience test. Now, if you've ever looked into investing in professional UX testing, you know that it can get really expensive really fast.
[00:01:44] That's because it's so crucial to creating high quality design, and the quality of your feedback is incredibly important. But let's be honest, not everybody has a budget for professional UX testing, but that doesn't mean that we can't get valuable insight with the resources we have on hand. In this [00:02:00] episode, I'm going to be sharing with you three techniques that I use to test my own website and my clients websites.
[00:02:06] We'll talk about how to leverage your email list to get specific actionable feedback. I'll show you some creative ways to use social media for quick user insight. And I'll share my favorite method for getting honest feedback. Feedback that is high quality enough that you can act on it right away. Now these techniques won't cost you a dime, but they can make a really big difference in how effectively your website serves your audience.
[00:02:29] So grab a notebook, my friend, because we are about to dive into some practical, budget friendly ways to test your website user experience. Let's start with social media polling. This is where you can get a quick, gut reaction feedback that can be surprisingly valuable. Instagram stories and running a poll on Facebook are both perfect for this because they're casual and immediate.
[00:02:51] You can also do this on LinkedIn, but regardless of what platform you're using, there's a strategy to doing this effectively. Instead of just posting a [00:03:00] general, what do you think of my new website? You should create a series of very specific yes or no questions. For example, when you look at my new homepage, is it immediately clear what services I offer?
[00:03:12] Or, did you notice the new resources section in my navigation? When running a user experience test, I try to post three to five of these questions one at a time throughout the day. That can help keep engagement high. And gives me focused feedback on specific elements. Now, one of my favorite techniques is to use Instagram's question sticker to ask something specific.
[00:03:34] Like, did you see the new service I'm offering on my website? The answer to this can often surprise you and can lead to some major improvements in your navigation structure or the marketing strategy you use on your website. Now, I also love using the slider sticker for questions like, how easy is it to find my contact information?
[00:03:52] This gives people a range to work with rather than just a yes or a no. Now, this story can be super quick and super [00:04:00] actionable and it doesn't live forever, so it's not like you're going to run this user experience test for the next five years. Another free and helpful UX testing strategy does involve relying on your friends and asking what they think of your website But there's a very specific way to do this that gets you useful feedback.
[00:04:17] You don't want another conversation that goes, What do you think of my new site? Followed by, It looks great. That conversation is not helpful for anyone. So instead of asking a friend to look at your new website design, give them a specific task to complete. Something super specific. Like, Can you tell me how much this service is?
[00:04:36] Or, Try to book an appointment with me on my new site. Or maybe find an article with information on the specific thing that I teach. Now when you ask your friend to complete the specific task, I want you to follow that task with three to four focused questions. For example, can you look at my new site and try to find the pricing page for my website templates?
[00:04:56] Once you do, I'd love to know how many clicks did it take you to get there? [00:05:00] Was there anything confusing about the journey? What information were you hoping to find on the pricing page? The key here is to let them figure out things on their own, and of course, learn about the user experience. Now, I don't want you to send them direct links, navigation tips, or any hints.
[00:05:15] This is not a guided experience. If you can get them to record their screen when they do this and share their thoughts aloud while they do, that can be super helpful too, but not everyone is comfortable with that. So ask your tech savvy friends if you can, but don't be afraid to just type this out in a quick email or a DM.
[00:05:33] Now another important tip is to Give your friends permission to be brutally honest. I will literally tell people, you won't hurt my feelings. In fact, the more problems you find, the more valuable this is for me. You can steal that word for word if you want to. The more problems you find, the more valuable this is for me.
[00:05:50] This helps get past that natural tendency that your friends have to be nice to you and can get you the real feedback that you need. And for those of you that have been building your email list, [00:06:00] which I highly recommend, if you haven't started that yet, check out episode 28 all about list building. I'll be sure to link to it in the show notes.
[00:06:06] But, if you have an email list, you have access to one of the most valuable resources of feedback, your active subscribers. Now we need to be strategic here. I do not want you to send a mass email saying, what do you think of my website? We're never using that statement again, okay? Instead, we're going to get strategic about what we ask, and even more strategic about who we ask.
[00:06:29] If you're using an email service provider, like Flowdesk, you have the ability to segment your list. This is crucial because you want feedback from people who are actually engaging with your content. I like to create a segment of subscribers who have either purchased from me in the last three months or have opened at least half of my emails in the last 90 days.
[00:06:50] These are your engaged users, the ones who care enough about your content to actually give you thoughtful feedback. Now here's how I want you to structure these feedback requests. [00:07:00] First, I want you to make sure that this email is more personal and explains that you're working on improving your website experience.
[00:07:07] Make it clear that you value their input because they're an active member of your community. Then, give them a very specific task to complete on your website, followed by three to four focused questions, just like we talked about for the friend strategy. Here's another example for you. You could send out an email that says, I'm testing my new website experience, and I've noticed that you're one of the most engaged members of my community, and I would love your feedback.
[00:07:29] Could you take a look at my new website layout and let me know if you can find the pricing page for website templates? Once you do, I'd love to know how many clicks did it take you to get there, was there anything confusing about the journey, and what information were you hoping to find on the pricing page?
[00:07:46] Now, after the ask, it's crucial to make it easy for them to respond. Personally, I like to ask people to just reply to me directly. I don't have a million subscribers, and it's not like I'm gonna be inundated with a gazillion emails when I send this out. [00:08:00] I think a direct reply is fine, but some people like to use Google Forms.
[00:08:04] It's free. It's simple. I get it. Whatever process you're most comfortable with, just make sure that it's easy for these people to send you feedback. Now here's a bonus tip that works with all three of these methods. No matter who you're asking and how, try to end your ask with a very simple question. What questions do you still have?
[00:08:24] Or maybe something a little more casual like, was any part of this experience confusing? Have The simple question can provide valuable insight on something that you might not have even considered. As I wrap up this quickie episode, I want to give you some actionable steps to get started with conducting your own website user experience test.
[00:08:44] Pick just one of these methods to try. Social media, friends, email list, it doesn't matter which one. I don't want you to overwhelm yourself by trying all three of these strategies at once. Maybe just start with the social media poll, since it's quick and easy to set up. Now next, I want you [00:09:00] to create a simple document to track the feedback you receive.
[00:09:03] This can be a Google Doc, a Notion page, honestly, this could be the notes in your phone. The key is to keep all the insight in one place, so you can spot patterns and prioritize changes based on this feedback. Now if you've been following my journey lately, you know how valuable this kind of testing can be.
[00:09:20] In a recent episode, I shared how getting feedback from my audience helped me create a better and more engaged launch experience. And, if you haven't checked out episode 54 about my experience as a UX tester for the Portland Airport, definitely give it a listen. It's a perfect example about how valuable random user feedback can be.
[00:09:39] Now, for those of you who resonated with the email testing list method, but you don't have a big list yet, Definitely check out episode 28. In that episode, I break down exactly how to build an engaged email list. Remember that everyone starts somewhere, and the size of your list is not as important as how engaged your subscribers are.
[00:09:57] The most important thing I want you to take away from this [00:10:00] episode is that user experience feedback is incredibly important at every stage of your website design process. If you've just changed a sales page, you've added something to your main navigation, or you have a new suite of articles you're about to publish on your blog, get actionable insight and feedback by asking direct and specific questions to your engaged audience and your friends.
[00:10:22] Your website is a living thing. It should grow, it should evolve with your business, and it should evolve with your audience needs. So make sure that they are a part of the experience. Now, if you found this episode helpful, please leave me a review wherever you happen to be listening to this podcast. And if you try any of these testing methods, I'd love to hear about your experience.
[00:10:39] Send me a DM on Instagram @thinkinsidethesquare. While you're there, be sure to give me a follow and check out my stories. I might be running a user experience test that you can participate in right now. Now that wraps it up for this episode of Think Inside the Square. Thank you so much for listening and most importantly, have fun with your website.
[00:10:58] Bye for [00:11:00] now.
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Episode 28 about building your email list: insidethesquare.co/podcast/28
Episode 54: UX Testing at the Portland Airtport: insidethesquare.co/podcast/54
Insidethesquare on Instagram: instagram.com/thinkinsidethesquare
