When it comes to defining usability we can look at is as a website that is intuitive to use. Any website that requires immense thought to navigate and perform simple tasks means it needs some serious work done. As web standards have greatly improved over the past few years we’ve started to take certain website elements for granted.
In this post we’re going to explore website usability, what it entails, and what you can do to improve it.
Your website needs to be available when people want to use it. If your site experiences significant downtime then this will start to diminish your credibility. This could either be due to a server issue, or something greater at play. Usually, this can be remedied quite simply, put you’ll want to fix it if it’s an issue your site continues to have.
Accessibility refers to your site’s ability to reach and be useful to people from different backgrounds, including those who have a disability. There are certain web standards you’ll need to adhere to if you want your site to be up to the latest web standards.
The intuitive nature of your site refers to its learnability. This means your site needs to be understood very quickly. It’s common knowledge now that people will leave your website after they give it a chance for five seconds.
When your website is easy to use this will also help convince people of what you have to offer. You need to have a website that is clear. This includes your navigation, your layout, and your web copy. All of these need to be in alignment and contribute to getting your message across in the most effective manner possible.
No one is going to listen to you if they don’t trust you. This means you’ll need to highlight certain parts of your persona, bio, or testimonials in order to convince people that what you’re saying is true.
Make sure you include parts of your past that build trust, relevant testimonials and even social proof like your follower counts.
Being relevant is similar. Essentially, in order to be relevant to your customers you’ll need to be solving the problems they’re looking for you to solve.
Having these elements in order will help your website succeed. If any of these elements are out of order it’s going to be more difficult to turn visitors into subscribers, and those same subscribers into new customers. Put simply, your website needs to be usable.
If you need help getting your website up to speed, or are interested in a full on redesign, then get in touch with our web development team today.
by Calvin Bryant
Digital Marketing Geek
