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Part 2 – Usability: What to Avoid

September 2nd, 2009

365 x43 An iPhone-free navigation technique

photo credit: David Masters

By Matt Cook
Point.Click Media

Last week we took a look at website usability and how it affects your Search Engine Optimization, your website in general, and your overall business. Making sure your customers can easily navigate to the information or product they are seeking is just as important on the web as it is in your physical store.

This week we’re looking at some of the usability problems that plague most websites and how to avoid them:

1. Splash pages

A common mistake made by many businesses is not using the homepage to its full potential. The homepage is where you make your mark and leave your impression. Many splash pages may contain an introductory movie or flash animation. They may also give the visitor the option of choosing a language. Not only do splash pages severely hurt your search engine rankings, they also add an otherwise unnecessary click and ultimately more time for your users to try to find information on your website.

2. Lack of calls to action

If all your users see on your website is a list of your services and a phone number, there’s not much chance of them returning. Do you have a newsletter that you send out to your clients? Great! Make sure there’s a button or link on the website for people to register. Calls to action don’t need to be giant pulsating advertisements either. They can be as simple as a link reading “Click here to view our products”. It gives the customer the knowledge that “Yes, I can find something here”.

3. Hidden navigation

Everyone wants to be creative, but sometimes you can be too creative. Buttons or links should be identified properly, and not presented as a scavenger hunt. This can be done as simply as making text links a different color than the rest of your content, or if imagery is being used in your navigation, making sure it is labeled properly and positioned in an active area of the page.

4. Readable text

If users are having trouble reading the content you’ve presented to them, then there’s not much incentive for them to continue on. There’s a reason that newspapers and novels use the text sizes that they do. Kids books have larger text and fewer words per page in order to keep the child’s attention; many novels use serif fonts because the letters flow better along a straight line. Contrast is also important. Avoid light-on-light and low contrasts with dark colors between your text and background colors. Keep your demographics in mind when choosing text formats.

5. Scrolling

You’re never going to fit everything within a window and please every end user. It would be ideal, but it’s a pipe dream. There’s too many different monitors and screen resolutions out there to please everyone. The next best thing is to break up text that is deemed too long. Users don’t want to have to scroll and scroll and scroll to read all of your information. Even if they are reading a novel, there’s a sense of accomplishment when finishing a page and turning to the next page. The same applies to the web. If your content seems to be dragging on, it’s a good idea to add a “Next Page” button to avoid lengthy texts. Also, horizontal scrolling is always a no-no.

There are many more tips and tricks to consider with usability, but the key is to identify your demographics and cater to them. If your client base is mainly the elderly, then larger texts and images may be more suited for them. If a teenage crowd is more your crowd, bolder colors and minimal content could do the trick. In any case, a usability study should be done during the planning phase of your website.

Now that we’ve identified the need for usability and what to avoid, contact Point.Click Media to get started.

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Posted in Tips and Tricks on September 2nd, 2009

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