Web Design: Usability

Proper usability means better conversion rates for a business website. Usability is one of the key influencer's of the conversion ratio, and improving usability will typically double the conversion rate for a site that has had low usability in the past. Albeit there are many factors that affect the conversion ratio, one is the site's popularity and the other is the brand's reputation.

For a business website the product line matters a lot, and of course, the price. Low prices means increased conversion rate, The latter is dicey since you may lose money if you try to reduce the prices of the products or services you are selling online.

One should consider wasting money on a poorly designed and ineffective website since the visitors are going to leave it after a single glance.

Hence price, product line, brands, and usability all influence the conversion ratio. Therefore all these factors have to be looked into during the web design process.

As far as a business website design is concerned a designer should look at all the page designs seriously. Reason, it may be that the home page is scrolled much less and the inner pages which offer the required information and utility to the visitors are looked at more often and maximum tie is spent in these pages. The home page generally offers generic information about various features of the website.

Secondly put all your important features on the top of the page and in all pages during web development. This saves time spent by the visitor and tells him at one glance what to expect from the portal.

The following tips will help a web designer:

1: Use Descriptive Headings
The usability benefit of using proper heading tags: users can call up a list of on-page headings, and visit the section of the page that interests them. This helps in easier navigation of the web site.

2: Write Descriptive Link Text
The use of descriptive link texts provides usability benefits for everyone. Users scan the Web pages and click on the item that stands out in a link text.

3: Provide Information in Lists
The use of lists within HTML code is extremely useful as it announces the items in each list
4: Use ALT Text
ALT text is the textual content alternative that's provided for images on a site. ALT text makes surfing time easier.

5: Write Short Paragraphs
Front-loading content obviously benefits all users, as your site visitors no longer have to search around to find the main point of each paragraph.

6: Write Descriptive Page Titles
Its essential that title is descriptive. Again, this benefits everyone: all visitors can use the page title to orientate themselves and confirm that they're on the page they expect.

This article has explored a number of relatively simple, painless steps that can be taken to improve a site's usability for screen reader users as well as sighted visitors