Website Usability for Internet Marketing Success
Picture this Internet marketing scenario:
You are standing behind your company's website, ready to accept a new customer / client. A prospective customer is standing on the other side, in front of your website. She is looking for exactly what you provide, and is willing to pay for it.
The only thing is, you don't know the prospective customer is there in front of the website. How could you know? She has not contacted you in any way, not yet. So if you want to make a connection with the prospect, she will first have to enter your website, navigate her way through the site, find what she's after, and then contact you in some fashion.
But what if she cannot use your website? What if the navigation system utterly confuses her? Or what if she can't even find the item she wants?
You guessed it ... she will leave as quickly as she came. After all, there are other websites to look at and other companies to consider.
Importance of Website Usability
In the scenario above, website usability made the difference between a sale gained and a sale lost. If a person cannot use your website, you have no chance to connect with that person. Nine times out of ten, a confused website visitor will not ask for guidance. And you won't be able to offer guidance because you won't know they're confused. They will merely be a blip in your website analytics program ... nothing more.
A lot of Internet marketing folks put all their focus on getting people to the website, but not nearly enough focus on the experience people have when they reach the website. These short-sighted folks clamor about search engine optimization, pay-per-click, and other traffic generators. But you don't hear them talk much about usability, "funnel simplicity," or on-site experience. This is an example of only seeing half of the big picture.
Usability 101
Entire books have been written on website usability. I personally recommend one called Don't Make Me Think. But to keep things brief in this blog post, let's just touch on some website usability hot spots. These are areas that can almost always use improvement.
Usability Equals Visibility
Helping your website visitors should be all the motivation you need to get on the usability bus. But if you need more incentive, consider this. Most improvements in website usability also help with search engine visibility. In fact, I've written an extensive article that gives several examples of this:
Usability Equals Visibility
-Brandon
Austin SEO at Squidoo.com
You are standing behind your company's website, ready to accept a new customer / client. A prospective customer is standing on the other side, in front of your website. She is looking for exactly what you provide, and is willing to pay for it.
The only thing is, you don't know the prospective customer is there in front of the website. How could you know? She has not contacted you in any way, not yet. So if you want to make a connection with the prospect, she will first have to enter your website, navigate her way through the site, find what she's after, and then contact you in some fashion.
But what if she cannot use your website? What if the navigation system utterly confuses her? Or what if she can't even find the item she wants?
You guessed it ... she will leave as quickly as she came. After all, there are other websites to look at and other companies to consider.
Importance of Website Usability
In the scenario above, website usability made the difference between a sale gained and a sale lost. If a person cannot use your website, you have no chance to connect with that person. Nine times out of ten, a confused website visitor will not ask for guidance. And you won't be able to offer guidance because you won't know they're confused. They will merely be a blip in your website analytics program ... nothing more.
A lot of Internet marketing folks put all their focus on getting people to the website, but not nearly enough focus on the experience people have when they reach the website. These short-sighted folks clamor about search engine optimization, pay-per-click, and other traffic generators. But you don't hear them talk much about usability, "funnel simplicity," or on-site experience. This is an example of only seeing half of the big picture.
Usability 101
Entire books have been written on website usability. I personally recommend one called Don't Make Me Think. But to keep things brief in this blog post, let's just touch on some website usability hot spots. These are areas that can almost always use improvement.
- Navigation.Label your navigation in a clear way. Don't be cute or clever.
- Home page. Keep your home page clean, inviting and uncluttered.
- Action paths. Define the actions you want people to take, and present them in a clear way.
- Calls to action. People will go where they want on your site, but it helps to offer direction.
- Interactivity. If you have listing data and searches, be sure to offer clear and ample instructions.
- Web conventions. Following web conventions (like making your logo a link to the home page) helps visitors get around by using things they're familiar with.
Usability Equals Visibility
Helping your website visitors should be all the motivation you need to get on the usability bus. But if you need more incentive, consider this. Most improvements in website usability also help with search engine visibility. In fact, I've written an extensive article that gives several examples of this:
Usability Equals Visibility
-Brandon
Austin SEO at Squidoo.com
Labels: Internet Marketing
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