Usability is very important in modern web design and could be the difference between a user sticking around on your website or getting out of there faster than Usain Bolt, never to return again.
There are a large number of factors to consider for usability but these are the seven most important ones that anyone who wants to have a successful website must take into consideration:
Cater to All Devices
The days of accessing the internet exclusively from a desktop computer are long gone. There are now dozens of different devices with varying screen sizes and using different operating systems. You need to make sure your website is accessible and easy to use on all of them.
Check how your website displays on different devices and make sure it is easy to use and loads quickly.
Logical CTAs
Whatever the purpose of your website, there is likely one or more action that you would like visitors to take. It could be making a purchase, filling in a form, entering their e-mail address, or downloading something. In all cases, you should try to make it as easy as possible for them to perform the actions required to do what you want them to do.
Your CTA, or call to action, is the element on your website that makes the user take the action you want them to, such as a link or button. Make sure it is in an obvious place, is noticeable, is clearly labeled and most important of all; make sure it works properly.
Fast Website
There is nothing more annoying for a potential visitor to your website than having to wait too long for it to render. A study by KissMetrics found that 47 percent of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less.
If your web pages are slow to load there are various ways you can speed it up. If you run each page through tools such as the Google PageSpeed Insights, GT Metrix or Pingdom, they will give you a breakdown of what you can do to fix load speed issues. You can then either implement them yourself or get a developer to do it.
Easy to Navigate
The difference between a good navigation and a bad one can have a huge effect on how successful your website is. The last thing you want to do it make it confusing for your users, all information should be structured logically to provide a seamless journey and allow then to easily navigate to the pages they need.
Give People What They Want
Make sure your pages satisfy user intent. This comes with having a good site structure and make sure your pages are well categorized so that whatever medium your visitor uses to access the site, search, social media, referral or otherwise, the page they land on is what they were expecting to see and fully satisfies their intent.
Stick to Standard Conventions
There are certain standards for websites that people have gotten used to over the years. They expect the navigation to be at the top, the logo to link back the home page, a contact us and about us page, and elements of the site to be in specific place. While changing it up may seem like a good idea to stand out from the crowd you will likely just confuse and frustrate visitors which may result in them going elsewhere.
Make Your Content Easy to Digest
No one wants to arrive on web page and face a huge wall of text with nothing to break it up. Write engaging copy that will hold the readers’ interest and structure it in proper paragraphs so it is easy to read. Use images and videos to support the text and make sure any videos you do use only provide the specific information required.
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