Website usability
Contents |
What is website usability?
Website usability is the combination of features that make a website user-friendly — or not. Site function, navigation, design, and content are all factors in website usability.
Search engine optimization helps bring people to a website. Providing good website usability helps keep them there. The goal of website usability is to create optimal experiences for site visitors so that they'll do what you want them to do (buy a service or product, contact you, post a comment, etc.) and will want to return to the site.
Website usability and site function
Common problems with website function:
- Broken links
- Database issues
- Scripting errors
- Images that don't load
In addition to checking for and fixing the above problems, check all your forms and your order process regularly. Be sure that everything is working and easy to use.
The website menu is a key part of navigation but shouldn't be the only navigation throughout the site. Improve site usability with these types of navigation:
- Make the logo a link to the Home page.
- Have a breadcrumb line at the top of every page other than the Home page, for example, Home -> Shared Hosting -> Diamond Plan Details.
- Add links in the content between pages with related content, such as to reviews, comparison charts, and more information about products and services.
- Style links so that they look like links and are distinct from non-link text.
- Make link anchor text relevant so that site users will know where each link will take them. Avoid "Click here" anchor text.
- Create a custom error page with links to pages or sections of the site.
Website usability and design
Design can help draw visitors into a site and aid them in finding key information. Or it can turn them off or make the site more difficult to use. Tips on making web design help with website usability:
- Have the design work with the purpose of the site and its target audience.
- Avoid bright colors in excess. Too much brightness can hurt the eyes and leave visitors not knowing where to look. Bright colors at websites work best as accent colors.
- Choose a font color that contrasts well with the background color.
- Use colors to draw attention to key elements and to help with navigation. But be sure that usability doesn't depend on the use of color; many people are color-blind to some degree.
- Avoid clutter. Group information in columns and boxes, but if one's eyes glaze over from too much in front of them, break the information into more than one page.
- Use design elements consistently throughout the site.
Website usability and content
People read web content differently than they read printed material. These steps improve usability in reading web content:
- Make the purpose of each page clear with the title, introduction, and headings.
- Make the page easy to skim and scan with headings, sentences and paragraphs that aren't long, and bulleted lists where applicable.
- Include links to page sections at the top of the page.
- Provide answers to questions before they're asked.
- Put the most important content near the top of the page.
- Include calls to action, for example, "Read more," "See plans," "Order now."
See also
- Improve web page download speed
- Successful landing pages
- How to get started with a website
- Search engine optimization
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
