Is Your Web Site Usable?

Have you considered whether or not your website is usable? As much as I hate to admit this as a designer, the visual appearance of your website isn’t everything. There’s a purpose in having an attractive site. An attractive site informs your audience that you are established, professional, credible… However, a web site can look great, but not be usable.

With only 10 seconds to get your message across, you really have only about 150 words to make your point and convince your visitor to complete your call to action.

I asked you before the holidays to determine what information you would like visitors fo find on your web site, then ask family and friends if they can find the information while navigating the site on their own, without any coaching. If you had an opportunity to do this, you may have been surprised by the results. This comic below illustrates how practical information may not be easily found during a visit to a website.

comic courtesy of xkcd blog.

Testing has shown that if the specific information people are looking for is not found in ten seconds, they will leave the site. Your information needs to be easy to find. How can the visitor contact you? Where are you located? What is the goal of your site? Is there a Call to Action? Make the information the visitor is seeking obvious.

You may be thinking about having a new website created or a current website redesigned. Usability should be one of the first steps in the process, before color, type and visual element are decided. I can help guide you through this process, and create a site that is usable and attractive. Contact Resolution Creative to discuss how we might work together.

References used in article: http://alexwhite.org/2010/12/the-10-second-rule-for-website-usability/