The term usability is a measure of how easy it is for a user to find information that they are searching for, throughout a website. Website Usability can also extended to e-commerce websites where customers are searching for products to purchase. The best way to see it is as a ease of use, where we can include customer or user satisfaction.
In terms of internet marketing website usability is the primary focus before constructing a website. An easy way to understand the success stems from two reasons:
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You are more than likely to make money or get return visitors (if you are not selling a product) if your usability is good.
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An abundance in terms of visitor satisfaction, which in turn increases traffic, which then increases your link opportunities (getting people to link to you) which enhances traffic and search engine rankings, which enhance traffic also.
The most important step in ensuring the usability of your site is having people use it after it is designed and check for what people like, what they use, and what they find difficult to access on your site. You can never totally predict what customers will do, but by testing your site and avoiding some common errors, you can increase the usability of your website, which would then in turn, increases your traffic and conversion ratio.
One way to get usability information tips is to visit competitor websites and identify what you liked about the site and what you found unnecessary. Another method is to actually conduct a test, either on your website, or on another site.
The Dos of Website Usability
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Include a one sentence tagline that says what the site or company does.
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Add a search box to all pages on the website.
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Use colour to distinguish between visited and unvisited links.
The Donts of Website Usability
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Don’t have text situated in one long block. Breaking it up into paragraphs, or the recommended, paragraphs with headers, makes it easier for users to scan the content with their eyes. Think of it as people wanting information quickly and efficiently.
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Don’t have graphics and animation that don’t connect to page content. What this means is avoid having images or animations that are unrelated to either the product you want to sell, or the service you are providing.
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Don’t have a website that only works in one browser. You web pages or content must displayed the exact same in all major browser programs: Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, for Mac, and the emerging Google Chrome.