Usability. It is a buzz word that you hear in all sorts of professions. And yet, it is amazing the amount of times that the usability of something doesn’t seem to be well thought out. Especially when it comes to websites. How many times have you gone to a website because of a specific purpose, and have to spend minutes clicking links and scrolling just to find what you are looking for? Besides being frustrating, at times it can be a waste of time.
So the question becomes, what does a company like Red Rocket Web Specialists do to help usability. Seeing as how this is a blog, and not a novel, I will go over a few of the main components that we focus on and can usually be implemented on any site quickly and effectively.
Site search is one that is important, yet usually overlooked. While the majority of your website users will not use the feature, the people that need it will be upset if that feature is missing. It all has to deal with the fact that some users will know EXACTLY what they are looking for, and don’t want to drill down for it. It’s also important to keep this search box visible at the top and completely clean. The simpler, the better.
Another would be easily scan-able web pages. While we would like people to be interested in everything we have to say, and look at everything we put before them, the truth is that most people will skim a whole page looking to see if something catches their eye. If nothing does, the user will promptly leave, and not spend time on your content, no matter how great it is. Simple ways to help this is to change the subheadlines so that they are easily discernible from the main content, and that they are very short and sweet. Also, keeping the most important information in the first two paragraphs is key, as if the user is to read anything, this will be the hooking point.
Following these rules, and you will be surprised how much more people will want to read your web page. At Red Rocket Web Specialists we implement these in every design among many other things that will help your website not only be visible, but be easy to understand and drive traffic. Contact us today!