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Computer Help
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How to get more website traffic |
Having attracted visitors to your website through
prominent search engine placements, it is vital not to lose them by failing to
connect. Different visitors will have different priorities and levels of
satisfaction. In order to reach and retain as many as possible and to maximize
the chances of conversion, you should consider your site's usability and
accessibility.
Web Usability
Usability is all about providing your visitors with an effective,
efficient and satisfying experience. It's common knowledge that visitors tend to
glance at, and scan, pages rather than study them in any great detail. If the
message and options are not clear, they may leave. If they don't leave, the
chances are that they will click on the first link that seems to be most
relevant - it may not be the right one. Repeat the process a few times and soon
a visitor can be lost, confused and frustrated. Either way the result is the
same - missed opportunity and little likelihood of a return visit.
The more self-evident your pages are, the greater the chance of converting the
visitor into a prospect or customer.
12 Simple Tips for a More Usable Website
1. On the home page make it clear what the site is all about.
2. Make the purpose of each page obvious.
3. Use hierarchical headings to give clear structure to the copy.
4. Make the navigation and links obvious.
5. Use clear unambiguous wording.
6. Make the options and next steps obvious.
7. Remove any wording or imagery that is unnecessary, confusing or distracting.
8. Use consistent conventions throughout. 9. Include site search and a site map.
10. Make information such as contact details, pricing and delivery charges
clearly accessible.
11. Make the pages printable by including a cascading style sheet for printing.
12. Don't allow careless errors to make your site look unprofessional.
One more tip - just because your website works fine in your browser of
choice, do not assume that it will work equally well in all browsers. In fact it
is not even safe to assume that it will work equally well in different versions
of the same browser. Web designers who have had to cope with the
incompatibilities of IE5, IE6 and now IE7 will no doubt testify to this point.
It is vital to be sure that your website works on all the popular browsers. As
well as IE and Firefox, don't forget Netscape and Opera on Windows and Safari on
the Mac. And just to muddy the waters a bit further, Apple has recently
announced Safari for Windows.
9 Tips for a More Accessible Website
1. Provide all images with an alternative text description. If the image does
not convey any information, provide null (blank) text rather than no alternative
text at all.
2. Provide transcripts of audio content.
3. Ensure that the contrast between text foreground and background colors is
sufficiently strong.
4. Do not use color alone to convey information. There should also be some other
form of visual indicator such as additional characters, images or font changes.
5. Place column headings in the first row of a table and place row headings in
the first column. If headings are ambiguous, use the HTML scope attribute to
clarify.
6. Never use the HTML blink and marquee elements. For animated GIFs or other
moving objects, the flicker frequency must be less than 2 Hz or greater than 55
Hz. But better to have no moving content at all.
7. Link text should clearly state the purpose and destination of the link.
Phrases like Click Here may mean nothing to someone listening to a screen
reader.
8. Provide an option to skip navigation on all pages. This will save screen
reader users from having to repetitiously listen to the same navigation, and
keyboard users from having to repetitiously tab through every item. Use
hierarchical headers to provide the same benefit and to enable navigation
through copy.
9. On forms, always associate prompts with controls so that each control is
adequately described. Use the HTML field set and legend tags to give structure
to complex forms.
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Computer Help
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