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Most companies design their websites based on what they think customers want and need, not what customers actually say or otherwise indicate they prefer. This lack of listening to customers’ needs leads to ineffective websites that offer a poor user experience.

The good news is it really isn’t all that difficult to figure out what your customers are looking for in your website. All of the tools are right at your fingertips. You just have to listen.

• Listen up—Most customers provide you with feedback all the time, even though you may not even realize it. In their emails, phone calls, and online reviews, customers provide hints as to the things they like and dislike about your company and your website. It’s important that you’re always listening, and even more importantly, you need to act on what you hear.
• Search box—I’m a big fan of search boxes on websites. Not only do they improve the user experience by allowing the customer to find what he’s looking for fast, but they also give you key insight into which information most people are searching for. Track the searches on your website’s search box, and optimize your website to make that information as easy to find as possible.
• Social media—Are you connected with your customers on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets? If not, what are you waiting for? If so, what are you getting out of it? Social media is a powerful tool for gaining insight into your customers’ preferences and way of thinking. By listening to them on these social media channels, you can glean more information about what they’re looking for out of your company and your website.
• Web analytics—A good web analytics tool is invaluable to webmasters. Web analytics don’t just show you how visitors arrive at your website; they also show how people behave when on your site. This makes it easy to identify the most popular pages on your website as well as the worst pages that cause visitors to abandon your website. You can take this information , and optimize your website to provide a better user experience.
• Keyword popularity—A lot of times, we optimize a website for what we believe are the keywords that our customers are searching for. Over time though, your web analytics may show that certain keywords are more popular than others, and you may even find a significant number of visitors are arriving to your website from keywords you aren’t even targeting. This can help you target the right keywords that deliver quality traffic.
• Live customer service—Many websites now have live chat customer service. This allows website visitors to interact and chat with a real customer service representative while on your website. Pay special attention to the questions your visitors ask, and tailor your website to effectively answer these questions so visitors don’t have to dig for the information they need.

Does your website truly meet the needs and wants of your visitors?