Web Site UsabilityAre Visitors finding what they are looking for? When someone gets to your web site, make sure they easily find the information they are looking for·Make sure they have options such as signing up for more information or passing info on to a friend. In studying web use, it has become very clear that people need to be told and shown very clearly what they should do or have to do in order to get what they want from a web site. Things that seem obvious to many of the technically competent are lost on average users. For example, about 25% of web users do not know that text that is underlined or a different colour on a web site is usually a link to another page. If you bring someone to your web site through search or pay per click, they should very quickly be able to see the information [hopefully the exact search words] they are looking for. If they do not, they will leave your site, and your effort in getting them there, and/or whatever you paid for the click, will have been wasted. Click HereTo Buy Now One common mistake is to take unique users onto your generic home page, which shows a lot of other information the user is not looking for. If they are searching for specific information, they should land on the page that has that information. Stories of people who had their credit card out to make a $3,000 purchase from a web site, but could not find a “click here to buy” button are common on the internet. For non-commercial sites, website designers should have some kind of goal in mind for visitors – a call to action, key pages you want viewed, or a newsletter sign up – something by which you can track success.Knowledge of your users, general web use tendencies, and above all, web analytics are the best way to test your usability. |