When’s the last time you found yourself clicking endlessly through a seemingly infinite amount of pages on a website, only to find you end up right where you started? It happens all the time. You go to a website with a specific goal in mind and if you can’t fulfill that goal in a reasonable amount of time, you move on to another website. Web usability is a hugely important factor in the success of a website. The faster and more efficient a user can be on your site, the more likely they are to return.
Let’s face it, user’s come to your site for one thing and one thing only, content. They’ve found your site through whatever means and are now there to fulfill their needs as efficiently and effectively as possible. You can have the most beautiful site in existence, but if the information the user seeks is not within a few clicks, chances are they wont return. When it comes to creating content for your website, there are several important factors to remember:
Abridged content works the best. Studies show that it takes about 25% less time to read a physical piece of paper than it does to read that same text on a computer screen. In this sense, use about half the text as you would if you were writing content on paper. People don’t have all day to sit around and read your type, keep it short and to the point.
Make it sound professional. Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes at all costs. Use the tools you have available to you: spell check, grammar check and take full advantage of them. There is no excuse for having content full of broken english and misspelled words. Proof read before you upload any content, then send it to someone else to proof read again. It gives your company a negative image and may avert users from doing business with you.
Use header tags and lists to make your content easily scannable. You don’t want a user to be overwhelmed by a wall of text when they arrive at your site. If you highlight important points and keywords, they can find exactly the information they are looking for in a much shorter amount of time.
Know who your target market is. If your marketing towards professionals, than feel free to write using the professional jargon that they come expecting. However, if your marketing services towards your average joe, make sure even the most inexperienced of users can understand what it is your offering.
A close second to the importance of your content is the actual design aspect of your website. You can’t deny the appeal of a good looking website. This combined with well written content can be an unbeatable combo.
Keep your loading times short. No one wants to wait five minutes for a site to load only to experience the horror of a three minute intro loaded with techno/trance music and flashy effects with a button to enter the site. Why would someone want to go to your website only to have to click a button to enter your site? It makes no sense from a usability stand point.
Web usability isn’t a difficult concept to grasp. Take some time to visit your competitors websites and see what it is that separates you from them. Does their site load slower or faster? Do they have professionally written content or blocks of hard to read text all over the place? Take notes and improve upon your existing website until you are confident that it will provide a good user experience.
Dempsey Graphics designs all of its clients websites with usability in mind. We know what it takes and are confident that we can provide a positive user experience for all of their users. Feel free to contact us at (702) 837-1127 and setup an appointment to go over your current website for usability issues or talk to us about getting a brand new website for your business.