Is Your Website's Usability Holding You Down? A good usability structure to your website can make all the difference between retaining traffic and losing them
By Rustam Singh
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Usability and great programming using functional software as well as hardware design and functionality means the way we interact with machines. At the end of the day, the average user simply does not have the technical skill set to know how to program backend, and even if they did, they would prefer an interface which conveys them a simpler way. Not having a good usability to your start-up or your device/product can be frustrating and can lose out a lot of customers, even if the technology is good. On the other hand, having brilliant usability can push the sales and promotions phenomenally, even if the technology is average, like Apple's entire range of products are.
The concept applies on your website as well. A website with bad usability will result in it being the last button users click, and may not be the first to be stumbled upon from a search engine either.
How do you provide easy usability?
Good suability will encourage users to not just linger longer, but also click more. This means you'll have to probably avoid using infinite scrolling like many news websites are using these days because nobody likes being mislead into reading more. The final choice between clicking has to be with the user, not you. Avoid mandatory ads that track down with the user or heavily scrambled ads; nobody wants to stay on a webpage that has lesser content than ads
Usability is the best promotion
Online check-out systems should have a page that encourages orders and is seamless, but doesn't push it in your face. No one should have to Google where to search something on your website, it should be self-explanatory. Alternatively, you can add a page on how to use the website if it's running to complicated. Don't make them surf through multiple hops to order.
Remember the human
Try Reverse psychology – remember the worst website you've ever been to and try tor recall exactly what you hate about it. Design the website accordingly. Is flashy Java and Adobe flash really required? Can it be replaced with basic HTML? Should you account for slow internet connections and design the website for those users as well?
Integrate as many ePayments methods as possible
In a world of dozens of rival eWallet companies, it's necessary for you to account everybody in your start-up's website. For example, as a regular Paytm user, I hate it when websites only offer me Freecharge wallet's integration. I have no intention to use that, but when a website forces me to use it, I have to shift my business elsewhere. Same goes for Mobiquick.
Test – and test again
You can never test your website enough. Switch machines, browsers and internet speeds. Test from real non-professional users. See if all links work fine and orders are processed without running into a programming error. That could be the backend programmer's job, but it's still a good idea to test.
Straight to the point
Adding unnecessary click systems are the most frustrating thing a website can host according to my user experience. That is the distinguishing point between a click-bait website and a genuine portal of knowledge. Legit businesses arrive straight to the point and provide answers to what the page is supposed to provide, on one page itself, unless there's an actual reason to not fit all the content in there. Titles like "click next to find out more" or "find out what happens next" are signs of spam and should be avoided.
What're your favorite methods to make your website more useful? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook page Entrepreneur India
