Message from Leon (MD):
Website Usability Optimization Services
This involves a tactical approach to make websites easy to utilise for the end-user, without requiring them to undergo any specialised training. The visitor should be able to easily and instinctively perform the relevant actions on the site to reach their objective.
The benefits of Website Usability Optimization
- Attract more visitors
- Increase your conversions and leads
- Amplify your market share
- Dominate the competition
- Build customer loyalty
- Encourage brand credibility
Submit your information using the contact form provided and we’ll get back to you shortly; increase your sales leads now by investing in a user-friendly website.
Cater to your audience with effective website usability
Designing a personal or business website requires a significant amount of in-depth planning. You need to consider an appropriate colour scheme, layout, the type of content, the site architecture and the overall look and feel that you want your website to have.
All of these considerations are crucial to developing a successful usability plan for your site. Many businesses make the mistake of neglecting website usability for the sake of pushing towards an early launch date. Web design usability should not be considered as an afterthought, it should be an active part of the planning and production phase of websites.
Contact Purple Cow Communications now for an in-depth evaluation of your site’s usability.
The importance of a good user experience
One of the defining characteristics of Internet users is their ability to choose what information they consume. It is incredibly easy for an Web user to click away from a website if they encounter something that isn’t appealing to them. Unappealing characteristics could include gaudy colours, complex navigability or incorrect information.
Providing a good user experience is critical because it’s what keeps visitors returning to your website time after time. An understanding of what is expected of a user experience is essential when optimising website usability.
Usability evaluation
Website usability is a crucial concept in web design. It’s the notion of making websites user-friendly so that end-users are able to intuitively navigate the website to find the information that they are looking for, without asking for assistance from a technical specialist. Website usability is, simply put, designing a website that is easy to use.
Purple Cow Communications specialises in website design and pervasive usability techniques to produce user-friendly websites. Together with you, we will strategise the best user design interface for your new or existing website, to ensure effective web usability. Contact us today for a usability evaluation or further information on usability testing.
More about Website Usability
Usability guidelines for making a user-friendly website
There are various usability guidelines that should be considered when strategising the mechanics of website usability. No two websites are the same and therefore each site should be looked at with a fresh perspective on the traditional usability guidelines during the planning process. There are no set criteria that should be followed. However, understanding basic usability guidelines that amount to the overall picture of website usability will help you to get started towards an effective, user-friendly web design. Below are the four key elements that are missing from most of the websites that we audit:
Accessibility
How valuable is your website if users can’t access it? Accessibility is an important factor to note when designing your site. Elements such as loading time, too-small typefaces or compatibility issues with web browsers – contribute to the lack of accessibility of your website. And if users can’t view your website on the first attempt, chances are that they’ll move onto the next relevant website rather than waiting for your website to load. The improved speed of the Internet in South Africa has made online users even more impatient than ever before. If your website takes two seconds longer to load than other websites, you are most likely losing potential customers to your competition.
Look and feel
The manner in which a website appeals to a user’s visual senses plays a major role in website usability. For many users, the look and feel of a website often becomes the deciding factor when considering whether to leave or remain on the page.
Choosing an appropriate colour scheme is the first step to creating a welcoming look and feel for your website. This is often done in the production phase of web design. When choosing a colour scheme, shy away from harsh colours and high-contrasting colours such as red text on a yellow background. The colours that you choose to be associated to your brand should be colours that represent the purpose of your business. For instance, an offbeat, edgy advertising company should choose vibrant colours that display the company’s unique stance. A bright colour scheme, however, wouldn’t work if your business is an accounting or law firm operating in the corporate sector, where neutral colours would be better suited.
Navigation
An effective user experience-centred design greatly depends on a clear, efficient website navigational system. Your site can be the most-visited site on the Internet but if it’s lacking the fundamentals of a good navigation system, it’s likely to lose customers. Users want to find information fast. Therefore, for optimal website usability, you need clear and concise navigation labels that show users exactly where to find the content that they’re looking for.
The positioning of buttons and links, the labelling of menus and the relevancy of link text all contribute to an effective navigation system. Purple Cow Communications addresses these issues in detail using our consulting services. Speak to a consultant to learn more about usability engineering or receive an evaluation or advice on planning your website’s architecture.
Content
A general rule in web usability is to place important content above the fold. This is true for the most part. However, if your web content is written in a professional and persuasive manner, that promotes your brand, then it doesn’t really matter where on the page your important content lies – the user will be compelled to read further.
A website that displays excellently written text helps users to find the exact information that they are looking for, and will therefore keep visitors coming back for more. Website usability works hand in hand with search engine optimization (SEO) and therefore, all of our website copywriters are able to integrate their knowledge of search engine optimization into all the Internet marketing copy that they write.
Purple Cow Communications also offers professional website copywriting services that enhance user experience. A professional SEO copywriter is able to produce excellent content as well as an appropriate page structure for your website with ease. Our SEO copywriters are qualified and experienced at creating flawless web copy for a wide range of industries. Contact us for a quote on our website copywriting services and usability evaluation.
Improve your website usability with Purple Cow Communications
Purple Cow Communications specialises in website usability testing and can provide you with advice on creating a user-friendly website. Contact us for a user-centred evaluation of your site. We also offer web design and development, and Internet marketing to businesses that are interested in launching a new website.