We often hear about the need of a website to be user-friendly – what is it actually? What makes a website user-friendly?
It is the experience your users have when they are on your website. It is about how simple the navigation is and if they find the site simple to use.
To make a website user-friendly, there is a need to understand the online behaviour of customers. It is about knowing what your users want and what they do not prefer.
Thus, whenever there is website designing and development, the primary task is to ensure it is easy to use. The user experience should be smooth and easy – if this happens, your users are going to return to your site.
Here are a few of the many things that make a website user-friendly.
Site Layout is Important
These days a large percentage of users are accessing websites from their mobile devices. Nearly 80% users use their smartphones. Thus, users are spending a lot of time online as the data costs go down and unlimited data is now becoming the standard. In such a scenario, it is necessary to ensure that the website is responsible. Ensure that your website looks good on mobile as well as desktop devices. No, it doesn’t have to appear the same in the devices but it is to be seen that mobile users do not have to zoom every few seconds. They should be able to navigate the website easily – whether it is from their iPad or their mobile device or their desktop.
Some features of easy navigation are:
- Simple search feature
- Custom 404 Page
- Effective internal linking
- Different ways to explore content – Most popular, Top 10, Ways To Etc.
- Informative footer and header
Content is Well Formatted
It is found that an average user doesn’t actually read all the content. The use tends to skim through the content. Users usually scan through some essential parts so that they can determine what is essential and as per their needs. Thus, it is necessary to format your content keeping this in mind. It is necessary to use headings, various sub-headings, short paragraphs, lists or bullets or any format which helps to break the text and makes it easy to read.
Speed of The Website
Whenever you have visitors, they will expect that your site loads fast. User patience is very less, especially when they are on mobile devices. It is known that majority of the users wait for a maximum of 3 seconds before they choose to abandon a site. There are a few tools available which can help you to check the speed of your site. These tools include Google’s Page Speed Insights and Pingdom. There are many things which can be done to optimize the speed of your website – these include optimizing the images and checking the server speed.
Information is Useful and Correct
As users visit your website, they need an assurance that the information present in the website is accurate and useful. It is of no use to fill your website with information which is of no use. It is important to provide in-depth information related to products and services offered.
Colour Elements
Web designers need to select the colours of the website carefully. There should be a good balance between clarity and beauty. The colours use should be pleasant to the eyes and not distracting or disturbing. Designers need to be creative with the colours used – the elements should be able to highlight some important aspects without causing difficulty to the users.
Should Look Good on Different Browsers
You never know which browser your viewer is using. You might be aware that your website is working well on Google, but is it working fine on other devices? Thus, to ensure that your website is user-friendly, you need to check how your website looks on different browsers. It should work well on all browsers.
Effective Call-To-Actions
Your website needs to have an effective call-to-action which is essential to ensure that the site is user-friendly. Your visitors should be able to find the CTC button easily. The button should be easily located, it needs to be enticing so that the users are encouraged to click it. Your website shouldn’t leave your visitors confused, whether they should click the page or not. Some of the many attractive call to action buttons include – Learn More, Contact Us, click here to Order and also Download Now.
Forms that Converts
Forms are an essential part of business websites. They help users in interacting with the site. These are also helpful in generating leads for a specific business. Thus, forms should be accessible for all and they should also be easy to use.
- Forms should have correct labels for different fields
- The form should follow good design principles
- The number of fields should be minimum
- It should use correct validation
- It should provide on-screen message when complete
To conclude, give your website a try. Yes, like everyone else, you are a consumer as well. How easy do you find your website? Your personal experience shall certainly help in making your website user-friendly – but, you have to be honest.
