Web Design: Top Tips For Great Usability

Web design entails a lot of things, but usability should be one of them. There are millions of websites out there, but only a handful of them are a success. Do you know why? Simply because visitors want a website with optimal usability. Don’t fall into a slump with your site! The following article will discuss some of the top tips for usability.

Make sure that your webpage is easy to scan. In a recent scientific study, it was concluded that almost every website visitor scans the text on a page and doesn’t actually read every word. People tend to read the most important aspects of a paragraph such as bold text, emphasized lists and catchy headings. The first two pages of your website should have the most important content. It should also be interesting enough to keep visitors coming back.

Create meaningful feedback between you, the website and the user. For example, if a user stumbles upon a broken link and a 404 error message is displayed, let them know exactly what this error means. Error messages shouldn’t be vague and they should be obvious to the visitor what went wrong. Let users submit feedback regarding your website. However, if you require visitors to sign up or supply their name when giving feedback, make sure that you don’t require them to fill out the same information again.

Don’t use CAPTCHAs on your website. CAPTCHAs are usually used when signing up for a feature on a website to prove that it is a human signing up and not a spam bot. However, this also proves irritating to visitors for various reasons. People must spend long moments figuring out what the distorted text means, double checking if they are correct and refreshing the image if it isn’t easy to read.

Let users have control over what they want to do on a website. Let users use the back button on your website if they wish to navigate elsewhere. It is really irritating to users when the back button on a browser is disabled using JavaScript. If you have any forms that users can fill out, make sure that they can cancel the operation. By not letting users cancel, you are initially forcing them into a situation they don’t want.

Make sure that the graphics on your website serve a purpose. Most designers abuse the freedom they have with graphics and use them for decorative reasons. However, this becomes overwhelming to the visitor and disrupts the overall function of the website.

Make sure your website includes a clear tagline. The tagline is basically the motto or mission statement of a given website. It should describe in one sentence what it is that your website offers visitors. This should appear on the front page of your website and be easy to read. A website generally has eight seconds to capture the attention of any visitor. Your tagline is usually a good place to start.

A well designed website should have optimal usability. There are numerous ways the usability of your website can be increased, but today a few were discussed. Use what you have just learned to create a website worth viewing and coming back to!