Have you ever left a website because you couldn’t find what you wanted? Having an attractive design or relevant content doesn’t mean that visitors can find the information they are looking for and understand what you are offering or, more precisely, the purpose of your website. Making your website user-friendly is the first step towards achieving your goals and helping your supporters take action.
There are many considerations regarding a website’s usability and accessibility, and many assume that these terms include technical information.
Well, there are numerous ways to make your website more usable. This article discusses 5 key aspects of a user-friendly website. These suggestions can improve your website’s attractiveness to customers and increase your chances of online success.
Let’s get started!
What is website usability?
The term usability refers to the ease of using a website, whether clicking, reading content, completing a task, or loading a page. Accessibility is a component of usability that emphasizes the various abilities and limitations of a website’s visitors and how these influence their interaction with the site and their consumption of information. For example, consider how a visually impaired person might use the site compared to an older person who may be less familiar with recent technologies.
Why is it important?
The more user-friendly the website is, the more likely it is to get visitors to inform and engage. It’s hard enough to join an email list, donate, or sign up for a program if you can’t figure out where or how to complete these key actions. Or even worse, you manage to figure it out, but get so frustrated with the whole process that you give up.
5 characteristics of a user-friendly website
Whether your business already has a website or is in the process of creating one, there are a few quick ways to assess whether you’re creating a pleasant experience for your potential customers. Consider these five characteristics of a user-friendly website, and you’ll be on your way.
Regarding accessibility, don’t limit yourself to just a handful of users with different abilities. In fact, when you focus on making your website accessible in the broadest sense, you’re providing everyone with a service. What’s user-friendly and accessible to one group makes life easier for all visitors to your website.
1. Mobile compatibility
As more and more people use their phones to surf the web, having a mobile-friendly website is a must.
The first step is to check your current website’s appearance on a mobile device. You can learn more about it using Google’s mobile site tester. If your website is not currently accessible on a mobile device, we can help! At Blu Desk Soft, we do this and more. Contact us, and we’ll solve the problem.
2. Structure, navigation, and clear page names
People can navigate any page on your website, not just the homepage. It should be easy for them to do so independently using navigation and page names without any guesswork.
Important! Page names should not contain jargon or unfamiliar abbreviations. The structure should be simple and logically organized. Navigation should not contain many options but rather opt for general topics.
Last but not least, visitors should never find pages without links to related content or pages with 404 errors.
3. Fast loading time
Nothing irritates people more than a website that takes a long time to load. In fact, late load times are one of the most common reasons most people leave a website. Ensuring your site loads in 4 to 6 seconds is essential for optimal usability and impacts search engine rankings.
You can use a free tool to evaluate your website’s speed and get recommendations on improving.
One of the main issues affecting website speed is third-party website plugins and widgets, such as website monitoring and social media. Limit their use to only those that are necessary.
4. Clear calls to action
The best websites are easy to use. Calls to action (CTAs) should be as easy to use as the rest of your website, combining a compelling selling point (e.g. cybersecurity software) with an obvious next step (contact us now).
- Calls to action are easy to find, such as highlighted in the navigation, in a sidebar, or by a visible button.
- CTAs set clear expectations for what happens when someone chooses to proceed. No one lands on a contact page when they think they are about to sign up for a webinar.
- The design adheres to best practices such as a legible text size and contrasting colors.
- Don’t overwhelm visitors with more than one CTA per page.
5. Simple forms
Forms are essential for collecting information from potential customers, from subscribing to email newsletters to paying subscriptions. A user-friendly design makes it quick and easy for people to complete and submit forms, reducing the number of people lost along the way.
- Suitable forms don’t ask for more information than needed (or don’t ask for fields that aren’t essential).
- Fields are presented logically and sequentially, with similar questions grouped together.
- There is an obvious way to submit the form, followed by a message letting people know that their information has been submitted correctly.
In short
Creating a user-friendly website is as important as deciding on its look and feel. Usability is a key component that drives action and contributes to organizational goals.
If your website struggles to perform as you want it to, it may be time to focus on usability by making adjustments. If you’re building a new site from scratch, don’t forget to consider usability features when designing it. Your visitors will thank you for it – in word and deed.
If you need help, we’re here!