Usability is crucial for the success of your user-friendly website. That said, you should never overlook this detail. Furthermore, usability improves the efficiency and performance of your website, increasing the probability of success.
Usability also boosts sales and revenue for your business. Say whaaaat? A truly successful website should not only look amazing but also provide a seamless experience for users. In web design, a website’s usability is all about making it easy for a user to acquire the information they need. And, to do so quickly.
Usability is important, folks. It is what sets your website apart from your competitors. If you have any questions about website usability, you can always shoot us an email and we’ll do our best to answer them!
But, since we’re driving that word “usability” home, let’s first take a look at the specifics to a user-friendly website. Shall we?
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION
Rather than designing a website that suits the users needs, most companies mistakenly build a website that caters to what they like — A big no, no. So, what essential business information should be included for a user to access? Contact information, product images, brand logos, services, are all a part what makes for a user-friendly experience.
Remember, your website is the greatest calling card for your business. Therefore, all businesses need essential information on their websites that users can access easily. Imagine walking into a store and not finding what you came to buy, or not knowing where to look. Frustrating, right? That’s why it’s so important to include essential business information, to make it easy for your website’s guests to find what they’re looking for.
LOGICAL ROADMAP
You want your website to look great don’t you? Of course you do. That said, great website design creates a logical map, a roadmap if you will, of how it all works and how a user will access your content.
Now, imagine again walking into that same store and finding exactly what you need, or immediately knowing where to look. Feels good, right? That, essentially, is a logical roadmap. Point your website visitors in the right direction, and they’ll be happy little campers.
COMMON SENSE NAVIGATION
We tend to think that if you have the smarts, you have common sense. Common sense, however, is not so common. That said, having a website that stands out with fancy page names or a cool little navigational framework, is only making the user angry and frustrated. Trying to outsmart the user is not the way to go. You want to keep it simple.
Think of a time where you had to use your common sense to figure something out. That is what you want for your website navigation strategy. Also, take into consideration CTA (calls-to-action). You want to create predictable outcomes based on the navigation the user takes. Whether it is making a transaction, signing up for your newsletter, or requesting a quote, you want to make it almost effortless for the user to tap into their common sense to navigate your website.
SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIMIZATION
No matter what your business, you can’t neglect the power of social media. Optimizing your website for social media is a central component to your content distribution. Put it this way… if you are looking to better your online business footprint, integrating social media platforms is necessary when it comes to building an audience and boosting your SEO.
The next time you’re on Instagram or Facebook, take notice to the businesses or brands showing up in your feed. I bet that those businesses and/or brands have social media integrated into their websites. They likely also have a digital marketing strategy in place.
Soooo…. make sure you are promoting your social profiles so that users find it easy to locate social media share buttons for your blog content, products, or web pages.
BECOME MOBILE–FRIENDLY
Users, or anyone with a pulse for that matter, are on their digital devices throughout the day. Consequently, most search queries are coming from mobile devices. When visitors, your potential customers, land on your mobile-friendly website, their day becomes that much better.
In addition, users of your website hope that they receive the same level of functionality on their digital devices as they do on their computer. Do yourself a favor and optimize for both desktop and mobile-friendly experiences while you’re at it, and users will recognize your professionalism.
Bringing It Home
We are amidst the social media revolution, where everything is quickly accessed from almost anywhere in the world. A world where the consumer looks to find what they want fast and has an easy, sometimes great, experience finding it. If you would like to chat about the characteristics of highly effective and user-friendly website design, send us a message online or call us at 323-848-4465.
About the Author of This Post
Christopher Dalbey is an actor and screenwriter who likes to hear the funny side of the story first. You can follow his odd-yssey on Instagram, and see full clips of his work on christopherdalbey.com.