Your website is not “user-friendly”

There are two kinds of visitors that your site needs to speak to; the human visitor and the search engines.

If you require targeted traffic then your navigation and content must be readable by search engines. In order to turn that traffic into quality paying customers or even loyal followers of what you have to share then your navigation better be easy to follow, related to what the visitor came searching for, as well as worth those first 2 seconds of their time or they will split fast and never return!

The best way for the search engines to “catch” keywords and phrases in the written content of your page, is to keep the design simple and the message sensible.

Search engines can only SEE words, so if your site design is too complex (using frames, image maps, databases, trailing cursors, animated GIFs, etc.) chances are the search engines will not be able to read your pages. This will render your site invisible to them.

Even if they happen to make it through a complex design, typically the deeper pages will not be read. If this happens, your site may as well not exist.

Often, I see Webmasters who put too much emphasis on making their sites appear to be what they consider cool, without once considering their largest audience – the all mighty search engines!

Not to mention, a complex design will drive your human visitors crazy.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is audio that plays as soon as a website loads without a way to turn it off.  If you don’t believe me, then I dare you to check out this really bad website:
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/main.htm

When you get design and layout right and you will be headed in the right direction to owning a successful website.

Getting it wrong could cause your site to fail.

Okay, now you know what NOT to do.

Let’s look at the “TO DO” Tips.

Usable Tips for Building Powerful Websites:

1. Use a practical font, size, and color.

• After all, you want what you write to be readable by the human eye.

• Here are things that will cause your message to be lost by the human eye: fancy font, font that is too small or so large that it looks obnoxious, and colors that don’t contrast with the background well and are virtually unreadable. It’s best to stick with black or dark grey text on a white background for maximum contrast.

2. Make your pages easy and logical to navigate.

• Most people drill down what they are looking for through categories in main navigation menus. Consider using a search tool if you have a lot of information to share.

• Leave lots of white space and use links to help people easily find what they are looking for.

• Keep your site neat. Advertisements are more powerful when they are relevant to the page content.

• Navigation menus should be kept simple. The average online user is growing accustomed to looking for certain navigation components in specific spots of a website. So, rather than re-invent the wheel, stick with something that is tried and true. The more simple and logical it is the better.

3. Use a common design and layout for each page.

• Think about it, when you go to large well known sites, you know exactly where to click to find the very thing you are looking for. If those sites used a different layout on every page, it would be much harder to navigate and not as nice to use. Humans are creatures of habit so put things where they are expected and it will decrease confusion leading to ease of use.

4. Content vs. Images

• Never confuse eye-candy with content. Yes, pictures are worth a thousand words but too many can not only distract visitors but also slow down how fast your site loads. Use images to complement your message and remember that the search engines read text and words, not pictures.

5. Test your pages for “load time”

• Studies have shown that if your page takes more than 4 seconds to load, then you lose visitors fast.

• Test your pages on a dial up network if possible to ensure everyone who visits your site can actually access it.

• To decrease load time, try reducing the number of files per page, along with the size and quality of your images. Web based images do not need to be as large as those meant for printing.

6. Use a *professionally designed* header graphic, logo, and/or template.

• While it’s true that nothing beats great content, if you can have excellent design it will complement your message.

7. Be very clear on what your site or web page is all about.

• Why would someone visit your website? When they arrive, how will they know they are in the right place? Web surfers are very impatient people, and if they land on your page but don’t immediately know what it’s about or how it will benefit them to stay, guess what…they will keep moving!

• They will click the back button quickly unless you immediately capture their attention and spark their interest.

• The best practice is to put all your important information, content, and navigation links, right at the top where it is seen without having to scroll the page.

8. Protect your virtual investment.

• It’s a shame, but well-meaning Webmasters and Internet entrepreneurs are under attack from those looking to take advantage of a “technicality” for their own selfish gain at other people’s expense.

• Always include a legal disclaimer and privacy policy on all of your sites to protect yourself and your business. If you place affiliate links and testimonials on your website make sure you follow the new FTC guidelines.

9. Include *visitor-friendly* features throughout your site.

• Provide your visitors with an excellent user experience by implementing cool features such as language translation, search tools, page personalization, related multi-media content such as videos or audio files, HTML sitemaps, polls, forums, and even help pages.

• The best way to get the above features in place is to use a content management system (CMS). A popular CMS is WordPress. But other powerful ones to consider are Drupal and Joomla.

Put your visitors first and your income will reflect the effort!
Successful websites are pleasant on the eye, easy to read, use, and navigate.