Great Guidelines for Website Usability

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One of the most important elements of web design is usability. You need to ensure that visitors have an enjoyable and easy time using your site. Here are some tips which will help you enhance your website usability.

Image credit: Stock Photo – website development project on whiteboard

1. Take advantage of faces

When people land on a web page, they instinctively notice other people immediately, with their attention mainly on people’s eyes and faces. However, if the person in the photo is looking in another direction rather than directly at us, we are also likely to focus in that direction. Therefore, you can capitalize on this fact by using images of people’s faces to direct visitors’ attention to the vital parts of your web page.

2. Enhance the quality of design

Research has shown that many people determine a website’s credibility by the quality of its design. Design elements such as style, color, consistency, layout and typography all influence the perception of users towards your site. Therefore, you need to ensure that your site’s design presents a good image to your audience. The credibility of your site will also be judged based on the rate of updates, quality of content, ease of use and the number of errors.

3. Use the color blue for links

When it comes to website usability, it is advisable to stick to the norm. When people land on a new web page, they instinctively expect things to appear the same way they do on other sites. This includes the navigation menu, link colors and the position of the logo. Make sure there is a contrast between your links and the background color, as well as text. For instance, if your text is black, your links should be of a contrasting color. Since people usually expect it, it would be advisable to use the color blue for your links.

4. Make use of white space

This refers to blank space between widgets, images, paragraphs and other elements on a web page. White space plays a major role in influencing user experience and satisfaction. It is beneficial for web design in different ways:

• It helps de-clutter web pages, thus making them appear neater
• It helps separate different categories of items on a page
• Use of white space between paragraphs and in the margins makes content more readable

5. Have informative product pages

Nowadays, many people sell products through their sites. However, many product pages don’t have enough information, thus making it difficult for visitors to make a purchasing decision. Therefore, you need to ensure that your site offers comprehensive information about your products. Remember to make it as brief as possible. Make your text scannable by using sub-headings and short paragraphs. Avoid using technical language which might not be familiar with your visitors. Finally, remember to intersperse your text with images of the product.

6. Place key content above the fold

Research has shown that most first time visitors to a site won’t scroll but will only look at the content placed above the fold. You should therefore make sure that the most important content appears in a prominent position on your page. This includes the name of your site, the main navigation menu and a value proposition of the site. However, avoid the temptation of filling the upper area of your page with information since this will only confuse users.

This article was written by a guest writer and Evolutionary Designs may or may not agree with what is written. Please contact us if you have any questions about the writer or if you want to guest write for us.

Author Bio:

This is a post by Charles Mburugu, an internet marketing and social media blogger. Recently, he has been writing for Host In 15, an awesome web hosting review site that helps you in choosing the right web host.