Charleston Web Design & Usability

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Why is Web Usability Important
to Website Development?

Web Design Companies Charleston sc and web usability firm information

Lay It Out For Me

Usability is exactly what it sounds like. A web design structure that's simple, easy to maneuver through, and aesthetically pleasing.

We know it sounds like common sense, but it's a neglected concept. What's important to realize is people understand there are at least two or three others websites with very similar information just one back-button-click away.

The Five Seconds of Usability

Your website design needs to follow the five second rule. No, I'm not talking about diving head first under the coffee table after that last Oreo, while your buddy is doing a NASA-style count down. We're talking about only have five seconds to catch a person's attention and direct them to content they want to read once they land on your webpage.

The Three Degrees of Linking

Take That Kevin Bacon!

Making content difficult to find is another way of losing traffic and money. It should never take more than three clicks to get to any other page on your site. Ideally well constructed websites should be set up with only two degrees between pages.

Flashy Designs Can
Hurt Website Usability

There's nothing better than clicking on a website and waiting five minutes for it to load. Right? No? That's one reason that using a large amount of flash animated material can be a hindrance to web usability.

It may look nice for all your buttons to dance around the screen while your logo falls from the sky and a video plays in the background, but should these actually be the focal points on your webpage? These animations can detract from content that's actually important and blur your message.Flash animation is also very unfriendly to SEO and Google's rankings.

Don't think simple designs are better? Here's a fun game for you. Think of your absolute favorite store, and then take a look at their website. See a trend? Almost all of them have simple structures, good use of color psychology, easy navigation, and little to no flash animation. Here are some examples:

The Power of Website Conversion Ratios

Let's See Some Numbers

Conversion ratios are simply the number of people who buy or take action in comparison to the total number of people who view your site. Web usability principles are used to drive this percentage higher.

Example

Yes we have math on a page that's stressing simplicity--I see the irony

Say you have a small retail site named "Mom and Pop's" that sells statues of Rowdy for $50. (What? He's practically a celebrity.) This site has about 100 people visit per day and has a conversion ratio of 1% (fairly common). So that small online store ends up with $50 per day which adds up to just over $18,000 in online sales per year.

That same store restructures for increased web usability. Now the website keeps people on the pages longer, helps them find what they're looking for, and answers their questions in the content. They still receive 100 people per day, but their ratio increases from 1% to 3% (pretty conservative projection). After one good decision, this small online store is now bringing in over $54,000 per year.

Wait until you see what happens when proper web design
and usability is combined with SEO tips in "Mom and Pop's" website.

Charleston, SC Web Design
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