Usability In Web Design

When it comes to designing a website, many first time website owners tend to have their eye on the price and fail to develop the usability of their website. Examples of website usability development not being carried out can be seen in websites that are nothing more than nicely designed business cards. In a worse case scenario, the owner may not even include his contact details, leaving potential customers or clients puzzled and frustrated.

A website with gorgeous graphics and an appealing layout certainly will catch browsers' attention, but if the owner has neglected website usability development, then aspects such as navigation and even page loading times will perform poorly. Good looking flash-based pages are ignored by web crawlers in search of relevant text, images and links. Once again, visitors and prospective customers won't stay and they owner is left wondering where he went wrong.

Producing a website with high usability isn't rocket science. One thing the owner has to remember is that content is, and always will be, king. Simple, direct and to the point keywords used judiciously throughout a page a more likely to garner hits and repeat visits, especially when coupled with a layout that is simple to navigate so that visitors easily find what they're looking for. Adding that cute button may up the aesthetic factor, but unless they're tweenagers, most people just won't care about it.

How do you make sure your site map, visuals, text and comment forms (if any) are at optimum usability levels? You can always test your site before it goes live. Conducting usability testing on a website as it develops from a brainstorming idea to a conceptual design to a mockup or prototype allows you to make changes as needed. Modifying a website during the developmental stages may seem tedious, but it is infinitely better than making changes after the final version of the site is launched as this can be inefficient and likely to preclude disaster.

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