User bottlenecks are any areas that seem to draw a large number of visitors without enough people following through to the next step. Today's web users want an easy, frictionless experience that caters to their comfort. Here are four ways to make sure you're not creating friction for your visitors.

1. Consider the Journey

During the development of your website design, there are countless elements to examine and fine-tune. Taking this big-picture look is important to make sure your website designer understands your goals and creates the best experience for your visitors.

On the other hand, we can sometimes lose sight of the step-by-step journey that customers take as they collect information, consider a product, and complete a sale. Creating a map of potential routes will help you walk through the different ways that users will interact with your website. That way, you can look for areas that are affecting your conversion rates in a methodical, efficient manner.

2. Reduce the Number of Steps

Any time you can shorten the buyer's journey, the better your conversion rates will be. For example, if you are asking visitors to click through several pages of content, you are also providing multiple opportunities for the momentum to be lost. From slow load-times to a disruption in the shopper's connection, the fewer number of clicks needed to get the job done, the better.

The same can be said for forms, whether they are for scheduling an appointment, downloading an ebook, or completing a sale. Consider reducing your forms to only the most essential information--sometimes only an email address is enough--and only require extensive details for credit card transactions or when otherwise unavoidable.

3. Crystal Clear Navigation

You and your website designer have spent so much time with your site's navigation that you may have become blind to some areas that are confusing for users. Study the metrics for each of your pages and see if there are common areas where users are dropping off.

One reason might be that they cannot easily figure out what to do next. For example, do you have navigation options at the end of each blog post? On your services or product pages, are you guiding readers to the next action to take and providing options for the uncommitted?

4. Less is More

Confusing and overwhelming web pages are a major source of friction. Use simple pages that trim away unnecessary text and visual elements. Plenty of white space will keep shoppers calm and focused on the task at hand. If you're not sure which page elements are necessary and which are causing friction, run a few A/B tests with one element at a time.

Open Sesame

When you consider the step-by-step journey of your customers, you can identify areas of friction that are leading to bottlenecks in your sales funnel. By removing these areas of friction, your users will be happier and your conversion rates higher.