How to boost your website usability?
Browsing the internet is a part of our daily lives.There are various reasons why people use the web are various.It could be to read important news,beauty blogs, restaurant recommendations,to shop from the comfort of our homes,the list is endless.Emerging web apps and website trends are revolutionizing the way we use and obtain information on the web leaving lots of space for website improvements.
With the massive growth of web popularity along came numerous websites trying to be part of the big puzzle,but not all these websites have the same impact on their visitors. Some websites have better designs, enhanced website structure, some are easier to manage. In the end it doesn’t matter how aesthetically pleasing your website is or how amazing the content,if visitors can’t easily,access and use it, then they will look elsewhere.This is also known as website usability, here’s the Wikipedia definition on this one:
“Web usability is an approach to make web sites easy to use for an end-user,without the requirement that any specialized training be undertaken.The user should be able to intuitively relate the actions he needs to perform on the web page,with other interactions he sees in the general domain of life e.g. press of a button leads to some action. The broad goal of usability can be:
1. Present the information to the user in a clear and concise way.
2. To give the correct choices to the users, in a very obvious way.
3. To remove any ambiguity regarding the consequences of an action e.g. clicking on delete/remove/purchase.
4. Put the most important thing in the right place on a web page or a web application.”
Simply put,website usability is measured by how effortlessly website visitors interact and use your website and therefore is critical to your website success. Don’t worry,it is never too late to start thinking in terms of boosting your website usability,as a matter of fact,we’re willing to give you a few tips that can help you do this:
Accessibility
>> The website load time has to be reasonable – The longer the time the website needs to load, the bigger the probability that the visitors will leave the website and search what they were looking for somewhere else.
>> Use ALT tags to add description on images – The ALT tags help the search engines understand the images on your website. Better description leads to better website placement in the search results.
>> Custom 404/Not-found page – This is the page that pops up as a result of a badly copied/pasted link or maybe even a page that you chose to delete afterwards. Not making a custom 404 page makes a website feel incomplete.
Identity
>> Prominent placement of the company logo – Your brand logo should be easy to find, most often in the upper left of the website.
>> Easy accessible About us page – This is the best way to let visitors know details about your company and help build up confidence.
>> Easy accessible Contact us page – It is important to leave visitors several options to contact you, list your contact information as text (not in an image) – it’ll get picked up by search engines, put a Google map with your geographical location and implement a contact form.
Navigation
>> Company logo = Link to Home page – May sound trivial, but it is surprising how many people leave this out.
>> Main navigation bar – The main navigation or menu bar should be easy to find, read and use. The navigation labels need to be short and concise and therefore easier to understand.
>> Search option – It allows your users to jump to the pages that may contain the information they’re currently seeking. The search box needs to stand out, this can be achieved by placing it in the top left or the top right of the webpage.
Content
>> Clear and descriptive headings – Headings bring multiple benefits to a website, they help keep the content organised,visitors will always notice them always and so do search engines.
>> User friendly URLs – Making the URL’s descriptive and user-friendly is mandatory.Not much explanation is needed here,it is always better to see a descriptive URL rather than a URL with a random number sequence.
>> Concise copy – With the help of a copywriter your website will provide the right,concrete and descriptive content that will make a difference on your website success in terms of SEO.
Web Design Agency based in Manchester UK. To get more knowledge about web design manchester and other details please visit our website www.seedsolution.co.uk
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