Overview

These are the days of e-business where more and more people are turning to Internet for their buying needs.  As a result, the number of websites is increasing in leaps and bounds. With so many sites competing with each other, your need is to draw the attention of the net surfers to your website and convert their visit into a business opportunity.  How will you be able to increase the traffic of visitors on your site in order to increase your sale, whether it is a product or service. What will attract people to your website? Doing business on Internet is very interesting as well as rewarding provided you keep in mind the below-mentioned points.  We will try and give you an insight on how to optimize your business on Internet, through your website. Usability is very important and you are advised to never ignore or overlook this simple fact.

Your main objective is to first take steps to increase the traffic on your website and the second objective should be to retain the customers and clients who visit your site. Usability quotient should always be considered and it should also be your priority. Make sure you are able to wise up the users once they visit your site. This is possible only if your message on your website is clear, your product is good and you are able to deliver on your promises. This article discusses some important website usability guidelines.

Navigation

Your website should be simple, straightforward and uncomplicated. People should find your website easy to navigate. The more complicated you make your website the more people will avoid coming to your site. These days you have to value your client’s precious time.

Navigation needs to be consistent, clear and intuitive. You must understand that web users don’t have much patience so it is important to have clear cut navigation. Most importantly, all navigation links must work. Having a sitemap also helps users especially if it is a large website with numerous sections and subsections. Planning of website architecture is a must and must involve expertise.

Content

Your message should be easy to understand. Instead of confusing people with redundant information your main objective should be to tell them what your site is all about from the home page itself.  Make them understand (as much as possible) the meaning of the entire deal/ product/ services in very simple, interesting and attention grabbing ways and means. For example, if you are selling a product try and focus on one product at a time instead of giving them various options. This will confuse your client. Try and give as much information about the product as you can in order to allow the customer to arrive at an informed decision to make the purchase without any hesitation.

Readability of your site also needs attention. The content on the website must be well-written, well-presented and useful.  You cannot afford to have language errors or wrong facts if you want to impress you users. Text presentation is also important. Use suitable fonts that are easy to read. Long paragraphs can discourage readers from reading. Bold, large fonts and italics can be used to emphasize on important content. Also pay attention to headings, bulleted lists, and text spacing.

Website Design

Design and layout of the site is equally important as good content. It is the first thing that catches users’ attention and must be simple, straightforward and uncomplicated. The main pages of the site should not be hidden deep inside. They should be not more than three clicks away. The website layout should be consistent and the look and feel must match the website theme.

Use of Colors

Colors should be used very carefully on the website. Stick to blues and grays for a corporate look while pinks and yellows can be used for a funky site. Again website background colors also need attention. Soft and vibrant colors can be used for a site related to kids.

eCommerce website

An eCommerce website needs careful planning as it needs to display content and products both. Make sure that content and product images must complement each other. Their presentation and website layout is also equally important. It must have a customer support feature. Important information such as pricing and shipping must be clearly displayed and not hidden. Product images must be clear. Shopping cart must function well and must support all commonly used credit cards. Inform the readers that shopping on the site is completely secure and that their information is safe.

Other Key Aspects To Impress Your Website Users

Honesty and Transparency Pays

Never take your clients and customers for a ride. Transparency and honesty is paying and rewarding. Always deliver what you promise, never give your customers a chance to complain or doubt your company’s integrity. Never compromise on quality, whether it is a product or a service. Your clients should get what they see on your website. This creates customer loyalty and people will start re-visiting your site at regular intervals. They will also propagate your website name and page name to their near and dear ones. This word of mouth publicity is the best thing that can happen in an online business. Your sales will soar and your income, needless to say will increase manifold.

Client is the Boss

Your website should contain information from client’s perspective. Try and entertain and if feasible incorporate (in the website) suggestions of your client. This will give you loyal clients and customers. You are advised to value their time. It is therefore recommended that you have simple and easy-to-navigate websites. The moment the client finds your website to be a little confusing, he or she will leave your website immediately without doing any business on your site and in all probability will never re-visit your site again. Try to develop a rapport with each your users/clients by having useful and interactive content, customer support, live chat, prompt replies.

Update your site on a regular basis

This is another very important factor that has a direct bearing on your sale and increase in traffic. Your site should have latest and up to date information; the message and information should never be obsolete. In case you have outdated information on your site then you can be sure that people will never visit your site again. It is very irritating to know after going through the site that the information that you have just read is obsolete and outdated. It is therefore recommended to keep updating your site on a regular basis and always provide the latest information to your clients and customers. This is of utmost importance. One of the easiest ways to do this is with regular blog posts.

Conclusion

There are many people who have been earning a lot by doing business on Internet and they succeed because they follow these simple usability tips. Don’t forget to test for usability. If you want to prosper online, it is advised that you follow the above-mentioned guidelines as a thumb rule. You can earn a decent amount if you do business on Internet provided the basic rules are followed. You will also prosper the way others have flourished and prospered in this business.

Your website makes sense to you, but does it make sense to your visitors?

If you have been working on a website for months or years, it is easy to find your way around it. You know the website inside and out, you understand the workings of it and you like it that way. Maybe you are comfortable with it and don’t want to change. It’s easy to say put yourself in the visitors shoes,  but not so easy to do.

This is where usability testing comes in.

Website testing is more than just making sure it looks the same across browsers and validating the code. Part of it is making sure the user experience is worthwhile and enjoyable.

Have a few people who have never seen your site before to look at it. If it is an eCommerce site, have them look around as a potential buyer.

• Is it easy to navigate?
• Is it clear what the website is about?
• Is the checkout process simple enough?
• Does the website appear professional and trustworthy?
• Is the website fast enough to keep impatient people from leaving?

The best time to test the usability is BEFORE the website goes live.

The sooner you find usability issues, the easier it will be to change them. If you wait until the end of the project, too much work has been vested to easily make changes. Even if the changes are easy, there will be too much resistance from those who have spent the most time working on it. No doubt there is some big unveiling planned, maybe a grand reopening of sorts where the whole world will be ooh-ing and aah-ing over the new website and throwing money at your PayPal account to be among the first to make a purchase from your dashing new website. You might think that having people look at the website before it goes live will lessen the grand unavailing, but having a confusing website would lessen the user experience far more.

How do you test for usability?

First of all, DO NOT tell them what you are testing for. Do not tell them what the site is or what it’s about. If you need to explain, the website has already failed. What works for me is to have three or so computers with users set up in a room so I can see over everybody’s shoulder. Have them go to a website and do something there. Maybe buy something, maybe find some information, maybe leave a comment. What ever the task, the trick is DO NOT HELP. Just watch. Take note of which browsers people use, if they search for something, what words they type in if they do search, which buttons or links they click on, how many times they hit the back button and any other detail you can glean.

After you have taken the most common problems each test user encountered, fix them then test again.

What if the website testers are not your typical visitor? It’s best to try to find testers who are within your target audience, but not always possible. Like Steve Krug says, “recruit loosely and grade on a curve.”