Loading ...Web Usability – Designing Websites to Enhance the User Experience
This article is part of a series of twenty articles. Click to read: The Top 20 Web Marketing Concepts Your Next Website Design Company Should Know
Long gone are the days when having the best website to represent your company hinged entirely on the amount of effort spent on fancy and over-the-top graphic designs. The industry has changed, and the very expensive and time-consuming flash and animated websites once thought of as a necessity have become a hindrance to a business looking to compete. It’s no longer all about fancy and all about pretty. Pretty is nice, but more important is the user experience. The truism “Too much of anything is a bad thing” has never been more true when it comes to graphic design on a business website.
Web Design Usability
The main definition of a ‘great website’ has shifted from attractiveness to usability, due in large part to changes in the browsing habits of internet users. Today, the aim of web design is not only to develop an attractive website, but to perfectly blend attractiveness with user interactivity, and search engine friendliness. All the while keeping in mind the way website based applications such as communications, information distribution, and online shopping carts are being used by visitors.
Maximizing Web Design Usability
To make sure visitors receive the best user experience possible, and that the business reaches its website goals, expert web designers follow these guidelines during each design project:
- Creation of a universal layout for all pages of the website
- Development of easy and intuitive navigation
- Intelligent linking strategies for all major website segments
- Use of professional color schemes that are easy on the eyes
- Limiting web page size for fast loading
- Clear and easy to find contact information
- Relevant page text that is easy to read for any visitor
- Relevant images to the topic being discussed
- Responsive design for multi-platform support
- Designs that are consistent across all browsers
Responsive Web Design – It Doesn’t Only Benefit the Visitor
Today’s internet users browse the internet using dozens of different types of devices on everything from smartphones to tablets, computers to web enabled television sets. They browse from many different countries and languages, using different browsers and different screen resolutions. Testing websites for consistency across all of these different user scenarios can consume a lot of time and money.
As a business owner you have to look at it from both sides of the equation. While the primary focus is on maximizing visitor experience, usability also goes hand in hand with lead generation and sales. If your website has not been thoroughly tested to appeal to all visitors, many people visiting your website looking for information about your company may be unable to locate what they are looking for. Worse, they may be so turned off by the slowness or difficulty in using your website that they turn to your competitors for help. Keeping usability in mind not only provides an enhanced user experience for your visitors, it has a direct impact on lead generation and sales.
When selecting a web design company for the design and development of your business website, look for a firm with extensive experience creating attractive but user friendly websites. Quickly delivering the information your visitor is interested in makes a critical difference when it comes to internet marketing success.
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Tags: business website design, designing business websites, maximizing web design usability, responsive web design, responsive website design, search engine friendliness, selecting a web design company, usability, user experience, web design, web design usability, web marketing concepts
