Tips for Improving Website Usability

If your website is not easily navigated, then visitors will never stay long enough to become customers, fans, or whatever your goal for them. Every page should be easy to use and information should be easy to find.

Use the following tips as a checklist to make sure that your site encourages visitors to stay and find out what you have to offer.

Use Re-sizable Tables for Your Layout

By setting your width in percentage terms, you will allow your page to re-size to fit any screen. That way the reader will not have to do any horizontal scrolling, which is very awkward.

Check Your Page on Several Browsers

What may look good in one browser may look terrible in another. It is important to look good in most browsers so that you are not alienating a whole group of customers.

Keep Your Text Body Small or in Blocks

Reading online is not anyone’s favorite thing to do. Reading is made simpler if it is divided into smaller parts. Use smart subheads to make scanning easier as well.

1024×768 Should Be Your Optimal Size

The greatest percentage of web surfers enjoy this size. It is a great advantage to make your page look its best at the size that most viewers will be using.

Keep Your Page Layouts Consistent

With the exception of your home page, your pages should all have a similar layout. This makes your site easier to navigate; plus, it looks more professional.

Keep the Color Scheme Consistent

Choosing the right color scheme for your site is a very important challenge to overcome. The colors you choose can make your brand stronger, so put plenty of thought into it. Once you have your color scheme, stick to it throughout the whole site.

Keep Image Sizes Consistent

When images are several different sizes, your site begins to look cluttered. Keep your product pictures all the same size, icons the same size, etc. and you will have a much more attractive and usable site.

Make Sure All of Your Links are Working

A broken link is a tell-tale sign that a site is not legitimate. Make sure that all links included in your site are working.

Make Your Objective Very Clear

Your readers should be able to tell what your site is about almost immediately. If it is not obvious, then you are likely to lose their interest.

Build a Great Site Map and Make It Visible

Finding content on your website should be simple. A clear and concise site map link that you place in the beginning of your home page gives visitors an easy way to learn how your content is laid out.

Creating a usable website is not complicated, but it is one of the most important parts of becoming and remaining popular with visitors. Take the time to double-check the usability of your website and you won’t regret it.

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Comments

  1. good articles here hopefully i learned from it.

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About Anna Cruz

Anna Cruz writes about marketing, advertising, branding, graphic design and desktop publishing. Anna works for PrintPlace.com, an online printing company that offers brochure printing, posters, postcards, business cards and more printed marketing media.