Website Usability

Website usability is an important concept in web design which is occasionally overlooked in the rush to launch a website or brand. Put in simple terms, website usability involves building a site which is easy, fun, and logical for users, so that they can enjoy using the site and they can utilize it to find what they need. This consideration is critically important for companies that want to build brand loyalty and attract customers, as people are turned off by websites which they have trouble using.

Ease of navigation is one of the key features in website usability. When a site is clearly and cleanly laid out, with a logical progression of areas and topics, it tends to appeal to users. A tangled mess of a site is hard to move around on, and it may be challenging for people to access the information and topics they want. If users get frustrated enough, they may give up altogether and take their business elsewhere. Being friendly for search engines is also important to many webmasters, as most people want to attract traffic to their sites.

Design aesthetics are also an important aspect of usability. If a site is well designed, it is clear, easy to understand, and easy to view. If the design is too cluttered, ornate, or illogical, users may struggle with it, especially if they have visual impairments. A growing number of websites are thinking about visual impairments and other disabilities in the design phases so that sites will be accessible to everyone, not just people with young, healthy eyes. Things like cute visual features which look neat but make it hard for people with screen readers to use a site are being eliminated in favor of more friendly design.

Another characteristic of website usability is the functionality of the site. If a website has bugs, broken links, pictures that don’t load, and other issues, people will have trouble using it. Nothing frustrates a user more than clicking on a link which leads nowhere, or trying to submit a form which will not go through. If a user does encounter a bug or problem, navigational tools which help the user report the bug and then return to what he or she was doing are critical, to make sure that users know that they are valued, and that site owners find bugs just as annoying as users do.

What is a Usability Assessment?

A Website Usability Assessment is one of the best steps forward the owner can take when trying to strengthen the effectiveness of their site.

When we talk about a Usability Assessment we mean to address the following types of issues:

Is the navigation on your website really user friendly?
Can people find what they are looking for?
Are people abandoning your website quickly?
Where are the bottlenecks in your checkout process?
Are the forms easy to use?
Does anyone come back to the site after visiting it?
Which pages are most popular, which are least visited?
How can your website be improved?

How We Test Website Usability

One of the first things we do is integrate Google Analytics into your site. This is website tracking and reporting software that is free to you, the user, yet also happens to be one of the best in the business.

Once the Google Analytics tracking code is in place, we can begin to work through a number of checks on your website. Meanwhile the Analytics software begins to gather data as people interact with your website.