Websites are considered to be a window of your business/organization to the outer world, where you try and put up the best show to impress upon your target audience. If a website is visually displeasing or difficult to navigate, it would fail to get the desired response from its target audience. In fact, the success of a website depends to a great extent on its visitors. More traffic brings in more popularity and hence more money. However, if your website design does not suit the temperament of your visitors, it might cost you your image, and consequently your website popularity.
While creating a website, it is necessary to mull over a design that would not just be search engine optimized, but also user-friendly in all aspects. The usability of your website should be considered equally if not more important, than all other dimensions that goes into its making. The question that might tickle your mind by now is what usability is all about. The answer is that usability or user-ability is the extent to which a user can learn and use a product to accomplish his predetermined goal satisfactorily. Here, the product is your website and the goal would be to get him/her the required or requested information as soon and as easily as possible.
Nowadays, creating websites is just a matter of a few days. Even a lone home-base entrepreneur can create a website to promote his business. Still many business concerns are lagging behind when it comes to website promotion. The reason is that the website design is either complex or incomprehensible. One of the most important facets that need to be taken care of while designing a website is its navigability.
Few tips to turn your mediocre site into a user-friendly one
- The website should be designed in a way that even a layman can navigate them effortlessly. Studies reveal that an average person takes 11 seconds to try and comprehend something on a webpage and if he is unable to do it even after that, he switches over to another page.
- The hypertext links that you use for your website should be directed to pertinent information that would quench the thirst for knowledge of your visitors.
- Keep your sentences short and conversational and do not clutter your pages with unnecessary texts and graphics. It might distract the attention of the visitor.
- It is good to include a feedback form in the site to keep track on the incoming traffic.
- A website needs to load quickly for its target audience. Slow loading websites are one of the banes to a website’s “stickiness,” or bounce rate.
User friendly websites display the elements to the users in the shortest possible time. Make sure that the home page precisely and concisely describes your idea and encourages your visitors to keep visiting the site for more updates.
NB: If you would rather let someone do the entire thing for you at an affordable rate, here is a web design company you could check out.
