Website Usability Tutorial

SEO and PPC are great for attracting visitors to a site, but once they arrive, they have to be able to use the site and understand the content. If they cannot they will simply go elsewhere. There are three main criteria that are essential for creating a successful website – navigation, content and forms.

Navigation

Navigation refers to the way in which a user moves through the content of a website. Most websites consist of more than one page and some way of moving from one page to the next needs to be available. It is crucial that a clear and simple navigation system be used. It should answer these three questions for the user: “Where am I?”, “Where have I been?” and “Where can I go?”
The navigation system usually takes the form of a menu containing links. This menu should remain consistent. In other words it should be in the same place on every page and should have the same format.
The links should be descriptive and indicate where it will take the user. If it doesn’t the user’s trust will be lost.
Some menus make use of a scripting language like Javascript. Although this can make the menu more compact and attractive to use, some browsers don’t support them. Also, search engine spiders can’t follow these links and cache the contents of your site. To get around this, make use of plain text links in the content. Also, be sure to use a plain text sitemap. Every page on your site should be linked to from the sitemap and every page should link to the sitemap.
Your navigation system (menu) should always have a link to your homepage. This will make it easy for visitors who enter your site on pages deeper in the site to find their way to the beginning of the site.
Lastly, include a search box on your site. This will help visitors find what they are looking for faster. Place the search box in a prominent place so that it is easy to find. Under no circumstances use a search box that sends visitors away from your site!

Content

The content of the site is the reason for having it in the first place. It is the most important part of the site so ensuring that it is the most prominent part is essential. Eye-catching design will impress visitors, but it is the content that will keep them on the site and get them to buy whatever you have to offer. It is essential that the design makes the content accessible.
Firstly, make sure that the visitor can get to the content as fast as possible. Sites that take a long time to load are a big no, no! Keep the size of your pages down in order to facilitate faster loading. If you use a lot of graphics, images or Flash it will make your site slow to load and annoy visitors.
Place your most important content high on the page. If it is placed further down, users may leave before they reach it. It is also essential that the theme or topic of the page be obvious. It should take no longer than a few seconds for a visitor to understand what the page’s topic is.
Make your content easy to scan. Users are reluctant to read everything on your site. By making use of headers, lists and bold fonts you can make it easier for users to find the parts which they are interested in.
Since content is usually conveyed in the form of text, make sure that the text stands out. Most sites use dark text on a light background. This makes the text easy to read, but if you use a font colour that blends in with the background you will “hide” the content. Visitors will not buy your products if they can’t read the content. Also ensure that the text size is big enough to read.

Forms

Forms allow visitors to the site to communicate with you. They are essential for ecommerce sites where visitors buy products on the site, but they are also very valuable for other sites. The most popular forms are feedback forms called “Contact Forms”. They allow users to post a message to the site owner/owners on the site itself. This form of communication is better than an email link for many reasons. Firstly, your email address won’t be available for email spam spiders to collect. Furthermore, a contact form provides an immediate means of communicating whereas sending an email involves opening an emailing application to send the message. Also, some users may be accessing the Internet from an Internet café where they won’t be able to use their personal email account. Include other contact information on the same page like your telephone number and street address. Providing this information will make users more comfortable because your business will be perceived as being more legitimate and not just a website out in cyberspace.

Usability Testing

Once the site is built usability testing provides a means of correcting any problems before revealing your site to the general public. People involved in the design of a website will navigate through the site effortlessly, love the content and understand its purpose. They will be utterly biased in favor of the site, but real users might not share this feeling. Testing the site on real users reveals problems that are not obvious to the designers. Usability testing replicates the experience of the average Internet user and answers crucial questions like “Do people enjoy using the site?”, “Do they understand the purpose of the site?”, “Can they find their way around the site?” and “Will they return after their first visit?”. The usability test group should be sufficiently large to ascertain the “average” Internet user’s opinions.

Conclusion

Web usability means designing for visitors/customers instead of for you. A site that creates a positive experience is more likely to be revisited and recommended to others. It will also contribute to a higher conversion of visitors to customers. In a nutshell, good usability is critical to any site's success.