Whether you have a website or are looking to establish a web presence in Calgary or anywhere else in the world, you will need to examine these critical 10 web design usability issues:
1. First Impressions
Studies have shown that the human eye generally reads a webpage in an “F” pattern, from top left to right. Therefore, the hottest real estate on your business website is the top left area. Post your essential information there, especially your corporate logo. The only exception to this may be to center the logo in the top area if the logo is symmetrical. Overall, your website needs to create a great first impression and establish confidence and trust in your visitor. Your Web design should not hinder or overwhelm content or branding on any page, including the home page.
2. Menus & Navigation
It is ideal to have consistent and universal navigation on your Calgary business website. This means having a main menu that can access all pages at any time. This makes it easy for visitors to find the information that they need quickly and smoothly and also maintains confidence in their experience with your company. Having supporting menus such as breadcrumbs or contextual “previous” and “next” buttons or links to related items will reinforce the web site’s overall usability. Consistency is critical, and remember that navigation, such as text links and a site map, is also used by search engine robots when indexing your web site pages for their search results.
3. Make it Easy to Contact You
Make it easy for visitors to contact you by displaying your Calgary office address or phone number clearly on all pages of your web site, or at least on your key pages. You can also have a contact us page that has more detailed information, such as different branches, key contacts or a contact us form. These days it is also popular to see live chat options so a visitor can connect with your staff as they surf!
4. Get Visitors to Act on Something
Even if it is just to lead a visitor to call your office, a website needs a “Call to Action” – this is an action that is defined by a combination of site navigation, content generation and site functionality, including e-commerce processing. What do you want visitors to do on your site? Where do you want them to go? What is the next step once they have found your site? Is it to call you? Purchase a product online or educate themselves? Or perhaps pass on information to a co-worker in the form of an e-book or pre-recorded video.
5. Keep their Focus “Above the Fold”
Keep the pertinent information in the top area of your Calgary web site, or wherever you are, above the fold, which is the bottom of the browser window,where someone has to scroll down to keep reading. This is why logos, menus and the main calls to action appear in the top part of the site design – they need to be accessible, without the person having to scroll down the page to find the web content they want. Of course, when detailed information is needed pages can be long, however, as an alternative consider using a PDF document for more information-based content, as it keeps the actual Web page shorter and more manageable, plus you can brand your PDFs as a source of viral marketing, with Web links back to your home page on your website. Google and other search engines also index PDFs similar to Web pages, so your PDFs will also turn up in the search engine results.
6. Web Content that Invites and Offers a Return
A relationship is an ongoing commitment from both sides, it is not a one way street. While the visitor is looking for a product or information, your Calgary business is looking for that potential lead and the sale they bring– and as it has been said, it is so much easier to make a sale to a person who has already bought from you before. So, when I say “offers a return” I mean it’s a return for both sides, the returning customer finds continual value in your offers and you retain them as a loyal customer or client. So keep content timely, updated and consider adding a blog or Content Management System to your business Web site.
7. Clear Content Layout
Organize your site so your viewer can go from one web page to the next. Make sure that information is prioritized in a hierarchy of need (both for them and you) and provide the information or product to them as efficiently as possible. Consider the home page as the gateway to the site and lead the visitor to what you can offer them (e.g. latest deals, latest information package, latest blog entry, etc.) and then give it to them. Ensure that each page follows a consistent layout for navigation and branding and that the content area is organized in a clean manner so the design of the site does not interfere with content delivery.
8. Appearance Matters
A website’s impression is made not only by what is included in the web site, but what is left out. Bypass banner ads, third party advertising, non-interactive flash animation and overwhelming colour schemes that blatantly fight for the visitor’s attention. Your viewers are generally looking for one thing on your site, so make it easy to find by keeping the structure and layout of the site simple, clean and direct.
9. Secure Your Site to Ensure Trust
With billions of Web pages online these days, visitors need to know, more than ever, that they can trust their valuable time and money to your site’s offerings. Get security seals and trusted third party endorsements, a 256-bit SSL Certificate tells your visitor that you have planned to secure your Cochrane web site properly. However, there are subtle, yet effective, ways to show your visitor that they can trust your site: include properly written privacy policy, terms of use, shipping and returns policy, unique logins for their registration, acknowledge you will never sell or share your information with a third party unless they agree and only email them to the degree to which they have agreed. A certain way to ensure trust is to have your Cochrane or Calgary Web site professionally developed as this will create a professional site that is visually unique and properly organized and functions to your specific needs.
10. Polish to a Shine
Errors happen, it is technology after all, and while we all want to believe that technology can deliver 100%, 24/7 – is that reality? The reality is knowing that accidents happen, glitches happen and once in a while upgrades need to be made. The reality of the Web is that technology is expanding and those tools made to make your life easier still take time to learn and use. As technology expands we must be prepared to make upgrades, updates and expand along with it. By fixing even simple errors such as broken links (this requires ongoing maintenance), spelling errors, broken images, coding issues due to browser advancements and code deprecation, etc. you can present a well-polished gem to your current and future web site traffic, which will return the investment in maintenance in its visual appeal, optimum functionality and delivery of relevant, needed content.
Please consider the above 10 key points to improve your Calgary Web site or if you are looking to start a new Calgary Web design project.
For more information about Calgary Web Design and Calgary Graphic Design Services, please visit www.blinddrop.com.
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