Web usability is perhaps the most important factor in any web design. This is the driving factor that keeps your visitors coming back to your website. Given below are a few points that you need to consider to increase your website's usability.
Points to consider for improving web usability
1.) Give your visitor what he is looking for
A visitor means business; he is looking for information and will stay in your site only as long as he gets what he wants. So provide only relevant information on your homepage that is specific to your end users. Web logs are the best means of finding out which keyword your visitor used and for what purpose he could have visited your website.
2.) Tell your visitor what your site is all about
Often websites are crammed with information in no specific order making it hard to figure out what the site is all about! Your site should give information about what it can offer a visitor on an instant basis. You can do this by providing relevant information on the homepage. You can also provide links like 'about us' or 'about this website' for further clarification.
3.) Provide site wide links
Site wide links are very important in any website. They allow easy navigation to all pages and reduce time consumed on browsing the pages. Your user can have instant access to what he is looking for from any webpage using the site wide links. They also allow the search engine robots to cache your pages efficiently. Site wide links can be provided at the bottom of all web-pages.
4.) Provide a sitemap
A sitemap is the mark of a good website. Sitemaps give the skeleton of an entire site on a single webpage with all links. As site maps are specifically meant to provide site information they can lead to efficient browsing.
5.) Ensure that your website loads fast
No one likes pages that take long time to load. Your website visitor takes decisions in seconds and it won't take him long to press the back button or type another address to access other related websites. So make sure that your site loads fast.
The possible reasons for long loading times are
6.) Improve site's navigation using icons
Site navigation is an important aspect of web usability. Making use of unique XP style icons can really make your site appealing at the same time adding to easy navigation. Some businesses that offer XP style icons are http://www.icongalore.com , iconpharm.com etc. Icongalore.com offers http://www.icongalore.com at costs as low as $3/icon.
7.) If your site has too much content ensure readability
Poor readability can cause your users to leave. Poor readability occurs due to use of small fonts, poor color combinations, long sentences, repeating background images and improper headings.
Tips to improve readability
8.) Test your site before launching
Testing your site before loading is very important. You should pick up information like site load times, navigation, information availability, content, browser compatibility etc while testing.
9.) Check your server log data regularly
You server log data is perhaps your best information source to improve your website's usability. You weblog can give you information like keywords used most often to reach your site, website downtimes, pages most visited, exit pages etc. By studying your weblog you can find out the pages that a particular visitor accessed and the page at which he exited. This can help you optimize popular pages and give special attention to pages that seem to have the most exists. Overall studying the server log on a daily basis is very important.
http://www.icongalore.com is a leading web templates provider and has hundreds professionally designed web templates in various categories that come at surprisingly affordable prices. Apart from offering http://www.icongalore.com, they also offer allied services like template customization, content insertion, SEO and web hosting service.
recurring maid service Buffalo Grove ..
First impressions are extremely important if you hope to do... Read More
No matter what product or service you're promoting, unless you... Read More
The time it takes to load your site can make... Read More
There are plenty of web sites out there in which... Read More
Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money... Read More
Everyday we hear that another company goes out of business.When... Read More
Ever browse across a website that took ten million years... Read More
Surfing the internet is basically an information-fest! From intellectual discussions... Read More
Then it was a choice among crayons, paints and palettes... Read More
Wether you design your business brochures, flyers, web page, or... Read More
Let's face it. Building a web site that browses consistently... Read More
Have you ever been to site with so much ad... Read More
For most people graphic design does not come easy. Unfortunately... Read More
It seems that almost every Tom Dick and Harry do... Read More
Creating your web site can be a tricky process. Choosing... Read More
When a prospect lands on your website will he or... Read More
Novice and professional graphic designers, we are aware that you... Read More
A picture is worth a thousand words.And it still is... Read More
An "include" file is a piece of code that can... Read More
Developing a software application is not easy at all; apart... Read More
It seems more and more webmasters are using CSS for... Read More
What colors do you have at your website?Can they make... Read More
Countdown to Armageddon - at least you'd think so judging... Read More
Getting traffic to your website is not the only factor... Read More
Building your first website can be very frustrating. It looks... Read More
premium house cleaning Glenview ..We all want high impact graphics for our Web sites... Read More
Let's face it; the line from A Field of Dreams... Read More
Over the course of the last decade, the Internet has... Read More
Websites, there are literally billions of them out there in... Read More
This article gives free tips on how to find a... Read More
Out there in the WWW there are thousands sites using... Read More
Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him... Read More
The importance of choosing your website keywords carefully is very... Read More
Setting up a survey on your site is extremely simple... Read More
A question we frequently get asked is, "how do we... Read More
You've thought about it and you're ready to go. You're... Read More
The Basics You have a flourishing business ? everything is... Read More
I can't figure out people who have products or information... Read More
Most of us at times need advice on different aspects... Read More
Many people hire professional web site designers for as much... Read More
Geometric designs come in all shapes and sizes? and lines.... Read More
ActiveX uses an interesting method for enforcing security ... it... Read More
There is nothing wrong with making your own website if... Read More
The title tags of your web pages are more important... Read More
Most people will agree there is nothing more annoying than... Read More
Have you ever walked pass a shop that, for some... Read More
Choosing the right typeface for your website copy is important,... Read More
You have created your custom error page so now all... Read More
You've designed your logo, and you're ready to print your... Read More
There are two important reasons to build your website from... Read More
Web Design |