Almost all businesses are going online these days but most of the business owners completely ignore the importance of a User friendly website. Getting a website is Simple but still most of the website designers don’t give any attention on how to provide a friendly experience to the visitors of the website. User friendly website not only makes the overall experience of your Customers Happy but it would also help in increasing conversion rate and online revenues. In this article, I am going to discuss few tips which would help you to make your website more user-friendly.
Loading Time: Nobody would like to wait for your website to get loaded. Many people are still using dialup connections for accessing the web. Hence your website should have low loading time. An idle website should load in 8 seconds. You can reduce the loading time of your website by avoiding excessive use of Flash, pop-ups and other unobtrusive elements. Also you can use image compressors to reduce the page size.
Proper navigation: Make sure that your visitor can access the important pages of your website easily. Make it easy for your visitors to find information they are looking for.For eg: If your website is an ecommerce store, link to page with shipping information or contact us page. Try to provide shortest and simplest path to your visitors to complete a process. Replace all broken links on your websites with new urls.
Browser Compatibility: Your Website should be compatible with all the major Browsers like Firefox, Internet explorer, Opera, Google Chrome. Most of the time a website which looks good in one browser doesn’t looks well in another. Make your website compatible for all browsers so that you do not lose any customers.
Proper Color Combination and Font Size: Take Care of Aesthetics while designing your website. Your Website should be pleasing for visitors eyes. Avoid Excessive use of Bright Colors or small Font Size which makes your website very hard to read. Select Color Combination and Font size of your website according to your Target Audience. For eg:- If your website is for aged people, text should be easy to read and If your website is basically for kids you can use bright colors like red.
Above the Fold: Above the fold means the portion of the page which a visitor can see without scrolling the page. Put all the important elements of your Website like call-to-action link, Features of the product etc above the fold.
Relevant Titles and Headlines: Use Relevant titles and headlines for each page of your website so that user could feel that he is on the right page. Start your Headlines with keywords which can grab user attention and help user to find information quickly and easily.
User Friendly Urls: Don’t use Dynamic Urls which are generated automatically by your website Friendly. Make them short so that it would be easy to remember or share. Try to include relevant keywords in url so that user can get the idea of the content on the page by seeing its url.
These are the few tips which can guide you to start the process of making your own Website user friendly.
Tom Barr is Working for a Go-gulf, a Dubai web design company which Provide affordable SEO and Web Design Solutions in Dubai and other parts of UAE
Samantha Edwards
yes, that’s right. Users will complain about the loading time, the navigation and that lead them to go away from your page.
Tom from Inflatable-Hottub
Simon
Great Post
Your mention of usr friendly url is especially meaningful to me
When I started building websites I would just a search term with a high search count for the domain.
When I finally realized that if you can’t use it in a sentence you are going to have a real difficult time building content around it and you should just move on
All the Best
Tom Bohan
Charles from Natural Cold Sore Remedies
I think loading times are huge and I think it is going to be an increasing part of Google’s algorithm.
And it really doesn’t have to do with your hosting speed (necessarily). I was looking at a sales letter of someone and they had all these graphics up at the top of the page. Instead of having their headline in text, they had an image of text.
I was literally staring at a black screen for 10 seconds before anything started to load. The average visitor isn’t going to wait longer than a few seconds for your page to load.
You can make nice designs, but you have to keep things simple too.
Nebula from Digital photo frames
A web designer should design a website that are user friendly. None of the user would like to enter a site that are complicate to use. With the guide that provided will definitely help new web design understand what is the criteria to make site be ” user friendly”.
R Kumar
It is very important to make your website user friendly, in order for visitors to stay at your website. Things like website loading time, proper navigation etc. are basics are have to be kept in mind by every website owner.In addition to these and the ones mentioned in the post here, there are many other things as well that has to be kept in mind if your want to make your website user-friendly.
monika from print designer toronto
making your site user friendly is very necessary.i recently created my site and i was searching for this information thanks to you for sharing your knowledge got key points here I’ll use them .
Dena from Advertorial Writing
You offer some valuable suggestions, but I always equate it to “think about the user.” You can call this “user experience,” “good design” or whatever. But so often I work with business owners that either don’t spend a significant amount of time online or are insensitive to what makes a particular website good, easy to use, etc…
Simple questions, like “Is it easy to read?” “Would a person unfamiliar with the business understand what it is?” and “Is it easy to move withing the website?” are often placed in the “backseat” versus a slick, flash-filled design.
The point is, businesses should focus on people first. It can be argued that many of the recommendations listed above should flow from that.
Prabib from Rock Music Video
Nice post. I think it would be great post for new guys into this field.
Sharing this post. But I think it would be good if you continue this post. A lots of instructions are lying here and there and collecting those in a blog would be too much helpful to naive and people like me who needs to teach new guys.
Vicky from Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts
Nice post. Visitors won’t stay longer in a confusing site. So, don’t expect them to return if your site is not user friendly.
Mika Harimoto from Bird Cages
That is a great idea! I have started revamping my website to be more user friendly because I had seen many that are not. Thanks again for all the resources.
Jane from Indoor Tanning Lotion
I always look at Google’s ugly vs functional view. Google really isn’t pretty (and certainly wasn’t when they launched) but the functionality they provided (and still provide) makes everyone use them.
Maybe we should learn from them…
Steven from annuitiescalculator
Simon
Great Post. I am no expert on web design, but I think I could add one more to what you say: Well placed calls to action
Elsabe
Great post – I believe this is so true.
When I started building my first website I was more concerned about how the website looked for me (and ended up taking ages to load) but I soon realized that I’m not the one looking and visiting the site .
I believe that when you design a website you should only have one goal in mind – you visitors needs and how they feel about the site. I also found it useful to get my visitors opinions on what they think should change or be added. It’s amazing sometimes what these changes can do to not just the amount of visitors you get but also the length of time that they stay there.
Calvin from Those are certainly some good looking themes. And they even come pre-tested on the major browsers, too. I noticed that some of the themes took a little bit more time to load, so you need to be careful which theme you choose.
Looks like my earlier comment got swallowed up. Here it is again.
>> Nobody would like to wait for your website to get loaded. Many people are still using dialup connections for accessing the web.
1) Even those who pay for a broadband service do not always get a fast and reliable internet connection.
2) Many webmasters use an analytics service, e.g. Google Analytics, Statcounter, WordPress.com Stats, etc. Unfortunately, these (free) services have become over-subscribed, and have become rather slow nowadays. This means they also slow down your website. That’s not to say don’t use them … just be aware of the trade-offs.
If you do not need the details (and not many people do), then it may be worthwhile to learn how to read the default logs that come with your web-hosting account. Do note that some web-hosts need you to explicitly turn on statistics.
Another alternative is to install an open source web analytics software on your server/hosting account. e.g. Piwik (it’s the most famous but needs PHP 5).
3) Some sites would benefit from using a cache. If you use WordPress, WP Super Cache is the most famous (and potentially fastest if you install it correctly). Unfortunately, it’s interface has become rather complicated. I’ve had some success with DB Cache. It’s programmer claims that it is faster than WP Super Cache, but I disagree. However, the interface and installation are both much simpler than WP Super Cache, and it works well enough for me.
Samrat P
Good post buddy the two main points that I would think for website User Friendliness are design and load time… The design should be simple without much ads or bright content and the load time should be less.. The content should be loaded first and then the other things!!
Pat
Two things:
1. Agree with your points. But what about letting subscribers register? Good or bad? Unneeded security risk?
2. Your Security Code to comment is very difficult to read.
Dennis from Horizon Fitness T91 Treadmill
I think sometimes people or companies have theses extremely fast connections and powerful computers and they forget, like you said, that not everyone has that. I’m blown away by the complexity of some of the sites these days, and thats not necessarily a good thing. I feel like often times the visitor is overloaded with effects or options and it’s just too much to handle! Keep it simple I think!
Rita from Bird Cages For Less
Good idea about checking for browsers other than Firefox and Internet Explorer. I need to start doing that since more and more people are branching out to other browsers.
james marnley
I dont have a clue how to do web design, but I have learned alot already. thx
Nicholas Cardot from How to Blog
I’ve noticed that a lot of people focus solely on their content and they fail to take the time to really make their sites enjoyable to browse. These tips are perfect for someone trying to increase their site’s usability.
Nannetta
A good rule of thumb might be this: if you find that there’s anything on your site that gets on your nerves, even a little bit, either change it or get rid of it, because chances are it’ll get on others’ nerves as well. Think of it this way: pretend that it’s someone else’s site, and ask yourself whether it’s a pleasure to navigate, or a real pain in the bum. In other words, do your utmost to avoid subjecting others to all the things that you yourself find so annoying (see list above, and add anything else you can think of).
RJ from Las Vegas Hearing Aids
Yah, I suck at optimizing my load times… I try to lower my image file size on some of my sites, but yah, i suck.
Eric from Blanket My Baby
Totally agree. Shame on any ecommerce store owner who is not thinking about user friendliness when designing their site.
And what’s with designers still using query search URLs? Enough already! Make ‘em clean!
Ben from Carpet Cleaning Companies
I hate having to worry about cross browser functionality. Why can’t IE be like the rest!? Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera are all very similar. Design a page for one, you designed it for all. That is except for IE. Although IE 8 hasn’t gotten a lot better and more like Firefox.
jayesh
Great post! I believe this is so true. A web designer should design a website that are user friendly.
Tess from mysobe
There is no substitute for a low loading time website. Your user friendly website tip will be useful for updating and starting a new website.
Darvin from Best Muscle Building Supplement
These are all great ideas. I never really thought about the impact of a slow loading page, but now that you mention it, it really upsets me to have to wait a long time for a page to load!
Thanks for the tips!
szenovera from acid reflux causes
This is the most vital part of website development. If your site is replete with a number of error pages, it might affect your site adversely. Therefore, you have to ensure an error free website as far as possible as the future of your website is closely associated with this issue.
Tanah Murah
Great post. it is true, the importance website is Getting a Simple and friendly website and give attention to provide a friendly experience to the visitors of the website.
Poram from Treadmills equipment
User friendly site will also bring traffic because every guy who search a for specific item, it the site is not attractive, then the visitor must be leave doing nothing. Good tips.
tina from Teva flip flops
It’s gotta be a quick website or you’ll lose people fast. There’s no reason for a slow website anymore.
Also, fresh content is always golden.
Don from Christian Dating Australia
Often people skip user interface development and try to get too clever for themselves, or have multiple menu layers that change every time you go to a new page – not good. I’ve always found keeping it simple and consistant are the two best things to aim for!
Dave from Antique Furniture
I feel that Google has already in the past been factoring in loading times into the algorithm, as they counted the text:code ratio, as well as the outsourcing of java/CSS.
With Matt Cutt\’s announcement a few weeks back, it has put everyone into a spin, but I don\’t feel it will make that much of a difference.
Roy from Hostgator Coupon Codes HQ
I think a lot of this can be achieved with a simple WordPress theme anyway.
As you start to get traffic you can use tools to find out how your visitors are viewing the sites with mouse tracking etc
Another great way to make your site more usable is to simply ask the people reading your articles and viewing your site what they would like to see change.
The simplest answer is usually the best!
Roy
Eric from Honda Paint
Thanks for the article. As someone who is involved in web development, I cannot stress the impact of load times to my clients. Graphically rich sites and those with Flash and pop-up elements suck up quite a lot of memory. I caution clients who are with hosting plans of limited monthly data transfer (downloads) to consider how a high volume of visits to memory-rich websites can lead to expensive overages.
Darren from Call Center Services Outsourcing
Why is it that SO many companies think an entirely Flash-based website is the best? Sure it looks cool…but only if you’re willing to sit and wait for 10 minutes for the whole site to load. Not only that, it’s annoying to do SEO on Flash websites.
Nathan from 401k advisors
I think this is a step that is often overlooked by many designers and can often be very costly for your site. You don’t want to lose people visiting your site because they cant get to what the are looking for.
Tess from Ghostwriting Services
Loading time is crucial – if I visit a website and have to wait more than 8 or 10 seconds on the page to load, I’m gone! As far as content on a site, it should be interesting and offer value to the reader.Grammar and spelling are also important. You want to look professional. Thanks for sharing
Peter Hungary
A great guide to making your site really profitable and popular!
Thanks a lot to the author for the quality of the material.Picked up some good tips.
Steve from Lift Chairs
I was actually looking over a prospective clients page the other day and they broke pretty much every rule you listed, which wasn’t really surprising considering the source indicated it was made in FrontPage. The only thing they had going for them was loading time, but that was just because it was 100% static…
Paul from Funny Sports Pictures
Hi good article. I made a website for a company that specialized in Amish goods. Not long after the site was launched, customer service was getting emails from older computer users complaining that the fonts were too small.
Small fonts are great when trying to make a clean page, but I didn’t consider the audience and it cost me. The company was very happy with the way the design looked, but it was not serving its customers – I had to change the design completely.
Shailendra from Hotel Booking
Thanks for the great post Simon.
You have highlighted some most important thing to be take care of while developing a great site. Most of the user use Google to search information and if they click on a link that is not loading or very slow, they just click on another one and this is a loss for website owner.
Browser compatibility is another major concern while developing a great looking website. Most of the online community uses IE but this is not the only browser in the word and you simply can not ignore users with Mozila and Chrome.
Henne from Bead Knitting Patterns
Hi!
Good article with great information. I\’m rather new at creating websites and I\’m thankful for every tip I can get. I havn\’t really considered changing the size of the text and the font but I realize this is important and I\’ll try to adjust my sites even better now. Thanks!
Martin from Swarovski Strass
Good article Simon. I always learn a lot from your posts and really appreciate it! I wish you a Happy New Year. Regards, Martin
Webmatrix
I think a lot of this can be achieved with a simple WordPress theme anyway.
That is a great idea! I have started revamping my website to be more user friendly because I had seen many that are not. Thanks again for all the resources.
Andy from buy antivirius
So many people overlook load time. Browser compatibility is one people are forgetting about especially with the prevalence of Google Chrome. These two factors will send people away pretty quickly if they aren’t done correctly.
heather from bertini shoes
Thanks for the article you provided me great pointers to look at.For example I did not know that the web site could look different on all the different browsers it is something I need to check on my we site.
Thanks
Ellen from Farmville guide
I could read articles like this all day to get inspiration to improve my site.
On the other hand changing your website to often can do a lot of damage. I always recommend changing it step by step over time so you regular visitors can get used to it.
Thank God we have WordPress these days. It does a whole lot of work for you. Either WP itself or a plugin.
Thanks for sharing, great value!
Cheers
Ellen
Martijn van Turnhout from Zoekmachine optimalisatie
Nice article, but to be honest, I only Proper Color Combination and Font Size & Above the Fold are considered usability issues. The other points are more related to the technical side of the website.
You guys know the website of Jakob Nielsen, http://www.useit.com/, right? Ugly site, but fantastic content about userfriendly websites. Worth checking out.
Billy from cleaning services mississauaga
Yeah so true. Especially about the load times. So important.
Some people put way too much stuff on their myspace pages even, and it makes them unusable. Especially for some people who live in rural communities where high speed internet hasn’t arrived yet.
I am in Canada and there is still a lot of places where the internet is sllooooowwww.