This article contains 406 words.
Web Site Usability Checklist: 12 steps to a better user experience
Jul 05
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There are a lot of small things you can do to help increase the usability of your site. After optimization, usability is probably one of the most important factors in making a sale. The list below will give you an idea of how your pages should be laid out.
Avoid having a visitor scroll horizontally
Make it so all other related mediums are accessible on the web page. i.e Podcast and videos
If you have a lot of content that has to be on one page, add an image in the middle of the fold to get them to scroll down farther.
Avoid using bold words. They aren’t effective for SEO and they draw the readers attention away from reading the content and forces them to skim.
Some things are universal, such as logos on the top left of the page where visitors are use to seeing them. Logo’s should also be clickable. Many people know this as the way back to the homepage.
Plan on the site growing. How will you add new content and menu items over time? Will it mess with the natural layout of the site?
Forms – are they too long? If your form must be long – break it down into steps and let the visitor know where they are and how many steps are left.
If there happens to be a missing page on your site (404), is it easy for traffic to get back on track? If your 404 isn’t customized, you’re in trouble. A 404 can be am invite to leave a site. Having a custom page with a search function and inside your site’s template will make it easier for the visitor to continue where they left off or just to continue on through the site.
The site should be consistent. If pages are laid out differently from one to the next, visitors will become confused. You also run the risk of having orphaned pages, which will likely become supplemental pages.
Does the site work in all browsers?
Does it load quickly?
Are advertisements like Google adwords distracting visitors from continuing on to a sale?
Business
