BOOSTING YOUR WEBSITE’S USABILITY – PART 2

In the previous week we discussed some of the points that help improve the usability of your website. Here are a few more points that are crucial in making your website more usable and pleasing to the consumer as well as effective from a search engine stand-point. Once you make people aware about your brand, you need to give them a clear cut path that will direct them to the relevant content on your website. This is one of the primary concerns that need to be addressed while you design a web page. While the topic may be huge, here are a few points that will help structure your page better:

1)    Distinguishable main navigation

The main navigation of your website is the most important and must be clearly visible to all those who visit the site. Make the primary navigation easy to locate and equally simple to read and use. In case your site needs multiple navigations, all of them must be well defined and the purpose of each must be clear to the consumer.

2)    Clear Navigation labels and Fewer Buttons

Label all tabs clearly in order to give customers a clear indication of what they can find on the page. Don’t have a large number of buttons unless they are absolutely necessary. The goal should be to create an interesting webpage that is clear and easy for users to understand.

3)    Link the Company Logo to the Home Page

While it is okay to exercise creative liberty while designing your site, there are certain aspects that must remain standard in order to make it easy for the users to grasp. The logo on your site should link to the main home page when clicked to avoid confusion.

4)    Consistent links

It is an internet norm to have ‘links’ underlined and blue in color. Maintain this standard while designing your site in order to help the links stand out.

5)    Simple Site Search

Most users enter a term in a search box in order to locate it on your site. This box is crucial for all websites for them to be less complicated and make it simpler for the user to navigate.

6)    Descriptive headings

Since users tend to skim over content instead of reading it entirely, it is important to have clear and concise headings that will provide an idea of the nature of the content.

7)    Remember the ‘fold’

The fold is the imaginary line at the bottom of your screen which ends the page. If you need to scroll down to read certain sections of the content then that is considered to be below the ‘fold’. Always remember that the important content, that you don’t want your website visitors to miss out on, should be above the fold.

8)    Style and color consistency

You will tend to lose out on visitors if you have a confusing website that has different themes and color schemes on different pages. Make it a point to pick a theme that is not an eye-sore and keep it consistent throughout the site.

9)    Don’t try too hard to attract attention

I’m sure most people have visited websites where majority of the words are highlighted, hyper-linked or have weird pop-ups. Make sure your website is not one of those! While ads are intrinsic aspects of websites, figure out a way to incorporate them well and reduce emphasis on words. Save the ‘Bold’ and ‘Underlines’ for only the most important words.

While these are not the only aspects that need to be maintained for better usability of a website, they certainly go a long way in providing a more user friendly and engaging website.