Bloggers and website managers – listen up. There’s no longer any excuse for running sites with poor usability. As the online market continues to expand, non-user-friendly sites are getting eaten up by the competition. Though the term “usability” may just sound like Internet jargon, it’s actually a crucially important aspect of website design and management. Fortunately, it has never been easier for website managers and bloggers to make their sites more user friendly. If you’re unsure however, here’s what you can do right now to make your site a more usable place to visit:
How to Craft a User Friendly Blog That People Would Love
Map it
Did you ever get lost in the supermarket when you were little? If so, you know it’s not a fun experience. Don’t let visitors to your site experience such trauma; leave them a handy trail of breadcrumbs, also known as a site map. A site map will help users navigate your site rather than forcing them to stumble through it aimlessly. By implementing a site map, you’re making everything on your site just a click away.
Design with care
Though the phrase “less is more” may not apply to chocolate or birthday presents, it most certainly rings true when it comes to web design. A busy website shows an immediate lack of usability and may turn visitors away. Users prefer a clean, simple design that makes navigation the main priority. You can feng shui your website by: placing your company’s logo in the upper left corner so you’re instantly recognised; using sans-serif fonts for small sized text and serif fonts for large sized text; avoiding large blocks of text; implementing a consistent colour scheme; and avoiding obnoxious advertisements.
Get up to speed
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not 1998 anymore. There’s absolutely no excuse for slow loading websites. Fortunately, there are several ways you can improve your site’s page speed, including: switching to a less cluttered server; sizing images so the browser doesn’t have to; using a content delivery network; decreasing the amount of HTTP requests; and hosting your own images instead of getting images from other sites. One thing Internet users are not is patient, and it’s important not to make them wait around.
Let them search
One of the best ways you can make your website more user-friendly is by letting your users take control. Including a search bar on your website puts your users at the helm so that they can find exactly what they’re looking for. In addition to greater user-satisfaction, you can track searches on your site to find out what visitors to your site are interested in and how to best serve them in the future.
As you can see, usability is not just the buzzword of the moment. Making your website more usable can mean a great deal with regard to your site’s traffic and your users’ satisfaction. Though the methods listed above are just a handful of usability techniques, they are good first steps toward making your site as user friendly as possible.
What are the other ways you think one can use to develop a user friendly web portal that people would pay to visit?
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Good practical tips Bob, sometimes we need to hear them.
Commenting is a way for users to feel involved.
When one conceives the issue at hand, i have to agree with your conclusions. You distinctly show knowledge about this topic and i have much to find out after reading your article.Much salutations and i will come back for any further updates.