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Web Usability Guidelines

Web usability has become the most important factor for a successful website. You need to follow web usability guidelines so that your visitor does not feel difficult to use your website. It should be easy for your visitor to find information on your site. They should easily find answers for their questions; otherwise they would not prefer your site to revisit. There are plenty of other websites available; leaving is the first line of defense when users encounter a difficulty. Following are some important web design and usability tips.

Web Design and Usability Tips

Less Load time.

Load time should be less. Otherwise if your site is slow, visitors would go away from your site. Try to keep your page size as low as possible.

Don�t place home page link on home page

Home page link should not be active on the home page because it can increase navigational confusion. The user would doubt that the homepage is indeed the actual homepage.

Give a tagline to your logo.

Give a tag line to your logo which tells about what the site or organization does. This helps visitor to easily understand what the site or company is about.

Title tags which are important for Search Engines and for Book marking lists

Start the Title tag with your company name, followed by a brief description of your website. Do not start you title with words like "The" or "Welcome to" unless you want to be alphabetized under "T" or "W."

Follow conventions for web design

Follow conventions like blue for hypertext links which allows your site visitors to focus on your content instead of using their mental power to learn how to use your website.

Place all your Corporate Information in One different Area

People might want to find about your company details, therefore there should be an �About Us� page in your website. It is the best link for the visitor to find in-depth information about your company. This also does not disturb the visitor who does not want to know about your company.

Place all the important links on the home page

Offer a good starting point from your home page. Your home page should contain all the important main pages links, so that the user would find easy to navigate your site.

Add a Search Box in your site

Big website must have an Search option because when users want to search, they would scan the homepage looking for the search box to find their information. Make your search box at least 27 characters wide, so it can accommodate multiple words without obscuring parts of the user's query.

Content on home page

The home page should not describe just what lies beneath it. Try to showcase the good stuff you have in your site. Show some of your best or most recent content.

Use important keywords as Link Names.

Generally users do not read any web page at first; they scan the page to find the area that will serve their current goal. Links are the action items on any page, and when you start each link with a relevant word, you make it easier for scanning eyes to differentiate it from other links on the page

Offer Easy Access to Recent Homepage Features

Users will often remember articles, products, or promotions that were featured prominently on the homepage, but they won't know how to find them once you move the features inside the site. To help users locate key items, keep a short list of recent features on the homepage, and supplement it with a link to a permanent archive of all other homepage features.

Keep Critical Content simple, Such as Navigation Areas

Do not think that important homepage items require elaborate illustrations, boxes, and colors. However, users often dismiss graphics as ads, and focus on the parts of the homepage that look more likely to be useful.

Avoid more Graphics

Images take lot of time to get downloaded that is why don't just decorate the page with stock art. Images are powerful communicators when they show items of interest to users, but will backfire if they seem frivolous or irrelevant. For example, it's almost always best to show photos of real people actually connected to the topic, rather than pictures of models.

Use a liquid layout that lets users adjust the home page size

Fighting frozen layouts seems a lost battle, but it's worth repeating: different users have different monitor sizes. People with big monitors want to be able to resize their browsers to view multiple windows simultaneously. You can't assume that everyone's window width is 800 pixels: it's too much for some users and too little for others.

Try to avoid fluffy flash designs

Avoid designs that do not support real user needs are not recommended because they weaken usability.

Don�t use Splash Screens

Splash screens are not useful because it gives the first impression that a website is more concerned with its own image than other user�s problems. Websites should always think about the user�s time.

Perform Usability tests

Website usability tests can be easily performed by getting users to interact with your design while they think out loud. Take their comments and filter it into your quality improvements.

Keep your site simple

Simplicity is first rule for usability. The less features available in a design, the less there will be struggle for the user�s attention.

Use Standard Typography

Try to use simple typography instead of bloated designs and graphics. The goal is to enhance appearance without delaying the response time. The blandest sites can get the most page views and users.

Design Site keeping senior user in mind

Serve senior web users by making your website more readable and clickable. Use large text for hypertext links and minimizes usage of pull-down menus and moving interface elements.

Visited Links

Change the color of visited links. This will allow users to decide where to go next on your website. Links that don�t change color can cause navigational disorientation in users.

Avoid Pop-ups

Do not run pop-ups, such as in-content ads or pop-up or pop-in squares because they can often feel interfering and irresistible.

Error Message

Have a decent error message that ensures that you don�t lose your user due to programming or server malfunctions.

Test Test Test

Always test your website on different browsers and different operating system. They behave different in different browsers. You could find errors only by testing it.