15 Essential Tips for Better User Onboarding

If the term "user onboarding" is brand new for you, or you have heard of it but don't know much about it, be ready to learn 15 important user onboarding tips.

Do you also believe a smooth onboarding flow is a key to show the real value of your product as quickly as possible?

Nodding your head, huh? Awesome, let's go!

Why new user onboarding is so important?

Onboarding is indeed a very important step of your users' journey on your website. Because it is the heart of user experience.

Put yourself in the customer's shoes. They are visiting your website because they have a problem and they need something. It might be your SaaS solution, the products you are selling on your e-commerce website, etc. Why should they choose you while there are alternatives? The sooner they see your solution's real value, the sooner they will become your customer.

New user onboarding is also proved to be one of the most important parts of the user journey. As Neil Patel also mentioned in his article, a small increase in your activation rate makes your marketing a lot more profitable. And a better user onboarding experience is the key for a higher activation rate. That's how your users see the real value of your product. Then they turn into your customers.

You can read more about Onboarding Benefits in our other blog post.

15 Tips to Improve User Onboarding Flow

UserGuiding is a code-free user onboarding software to help you in this matter. Prepare your user onboarding process as simple as preparing a presentation. Yes, we know how developers are always busy! And that's why we offer our user onboarding solution to increase your conversion rates.

#1- Analyze actions of your users

To create a precise onboarding experience for your users, you should track their actions and understand the usage patterns. Create event based funnels to know where your users are facing an obstacle and leave your website without being your customer. That is where a good onboarding solution will help them.

#2- Set a goal to show your unique value

Now you already know the challenge your visitors are facing on your website. Time for action! ?

Create a thorough user onboarding flow that will show the value you provide. Encourage new users to make them complete a goal. By analyzing what made your previous customers pay to you, try to create the same experience in your onboarding flow.

#3- Clear the path to the "Aha!" moment

Don't try to show everything at once. Be precise and only try to aim the user to one goal. Save other features and benefits for later, the first impression should be on your killer one!

#4- Gather customer feedback

How your customers interact with your product is a very crucial concern for user onboarding. Gathering customer feedback about understanding users why they are coming to your product can provide highly significant insights that allow you to carry your product to the next level. It is a great metric to test how your onboarding flow meets customer expectations. 

#5- A key term you need to know: customer success

How successful your customers are while using your product is a simple definition of customer success. If your customers fail using it, it is a very vital alert to change or improve some things. User onboarding is one of the most important phenomenons that has a huge effect on your customers' success with your product.

#6- Track and analyze every step

The whole aim of creating a user onboarding is to boost your conversion rates. If you don't count and analyze every step, how would you know to make it better? Track completion rates of each step of onboarding and enhance it.

#7- How to improve user onboarding flows?

Now you know exactly which step of your onboarding funnel is responsible for the leaking bucket. Time for brainstorming and doing A/B tests!

Based on successful results in your onboarding process, find new ideas to improve the failing steps. Change call to actions, hero image of the page, put your CEO with a smiling face. You never know what will work for you, until you try. Something working for others may not work for you.

How to do A/B tests easily? If you haven't met with Google Optimize yet, it's time. You can use Google Optimize for free to do A/B tests without coding. It is really helpful to see what is working.

#8- Iterate, and keep getting better results

The most significant user onboarding suggestion is to iterate. Don't stop when you find something works better than the previous one. Each result of an A/B test will let you know which change increases your conversion rates better. Keep doing experiments until your company becomes a unicorn and you tell others to do them ?

#9- Check your competitor's user onboarding flow

Sign up to use the product of the biggest company in your niche. It may seem like cheating, but they probably have done lots of A/B tests and can direct you to the best practices. See how they onboard new users. Take notes while you experience their product tour. 

Then roll up your sleeves, get yourself a good coffee and create a better one.

#10- User onboarding should be easy

Your SaaS company might have an amazing product with the most advanced technology. But you won't be a unicorn company until your users understand how to it.

Even before designing your product tour online, ask people to sign up and use your product. But be careful here. You should talk to real people, in the same or close segment to your potential customers for your product. So don't rely on irrelevant people.

#11- Reusable guides increase user engagement

Your users don't really enjoy a complete onboard, as they are getting started to use your web app. Just let users understand what you do clearly, and then give them an opportunity to have your help when they need it.

Using a guiding assistant is perfect for that. Users can search whatever they need and reach your pre-created interactive guides. Especially for new feature adoption. They will be able to see every guide and try out the features they haven't used. Without getting bothered.

#12- Keeping it short and clear can be very effective

Creating a flow as possible as short and clear allows users to get past the beginning. However, a very long user onboarding flow decreases the probability of getting to the next step. When a flow consists of too many steps, it can make customers tend to leave the product.

#13- Educate your customers with interactive guides

When a new user visits your website for the first time, they might have no idea about what your product does. Also, they might not be in the mood to learn it.

To educate users with documentation and videos no longer works. People choose interactive onboarding flows. You should show your SaaS product's value proposition immediately with a descriptive hero text, complementary image to make sure more people turn into users from just visitors.

#14- Personalizing the onboarding adds value to your product

Personalization makes customers more engaged and helps build strong relationships with them. Understanding every users' individual experience how they reach their goals with your product and being responsive to their needs is at the core of the value proposition.

#15- Checklists are highly usefull

The first time users interact with your SaaS product's internal panel after they log in is very important. If they don't understand how to solve their problem easily with your product immediately, sorry, she's gone.

Checklists, progress bars, and gamification elements work great for new user onboarding. Also, on-demand user manuals will help the user to discover your product more thoroughly and decrease your customer support cost.