Listen: Thank you to audio wizard David Gilbert for editing!

Yes, good looks get you noticed, but attention isn’t the goal of a website. Our real objective is to change minds, teach, engage and get leads!  High-impact must be followed up with credible content and intuitive engagement.

Let’s look at website usability, and I’ll share design ideas that you can use on your own site to boost user experience, memorability, readability and of course leads!

Where the heck am I?

Most people get to your website through search, they can end up ANYWHERE on your site!

• Breadcrumb trails tell people where they are, and help them navigate back up to categories.
• Use obvious labels on buttons and forms – this is not the time to be minimalist or clever.
• Simplify your menu. Maximize your paid services, minimize your free content.*
• If you absolutely can’t simplify, use multi-column drop-down menus (called megamenus).

*  Free (helpful) content exists to attract organic searchers who are in the market to buy services like yours. Once visitors land, make sure they know what paid services you offer. If they want more free content, they won’t mind having to search a bit.

Websites that work use blogs and other freebies to build credibility and attract qualified prospects. Be ruthless with items that aren’t leading to your business goal!

Don’t make people wait

Speed isn’t just good for prospects, search engines will appreciate it too.

• Make use of browser caching. Some caching plugins are so hard to set up, and if you guess at settings you may not achieve your desired speed benefit. It’s worth reading the manual.
• Trim down image sizes. Try to use a professional tool because WordPress isn’t great. I avoid automated plugins for this function, but then I have PhotoShop.
• Host videos on YouTube or Vimeo, then link to them with a static thumbnail (and caption)
• Never set a video or music to play automatically.
• Minify your code – there are plugins for this.
• Keep visitors engaged – give them something to look at near the top, while bigger files load below.
• Use “on-scroll” animation to draw attention to featured items.*

A well-timed, once-off animation gives the benefit of movement, without the high maintenance, repetitiveness and slowness of actual video footage.

Mobile Design

I don’t say “mobile first”, because a good design considers ALL devices*.

• A sidebar is so 1990’s and will ALWAYS be a mobile headache.
• A grid layout gives people an overview of about 9-16 items. If your content is timeless, grids are best.
• If your content is time-sensitive, a horizontal panel layout is best because the latest is first.
• Use “sticky” to keep stories you want to feature at the top.
• Use touch-friendly elements i.e. buttons not text links. Make the entire panel clickable.
• Bigger fonts, more line spacing, avoid letter spacing for text.

* I think genuine buyers prefer a desktop on a private network (especially when doing financial transactions). Cell phone users are more likely to be at the casual window-shopping stage.

Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

CTAs are superstar performers – give them space to shine.

• The CTA must be AFTER your big benefit – create desire first.
• The CTA must be BEFORE items that tempt visitors to explore the rest of the site.
• Use vibrant or complementary color backgrounds.
• No more than 10 words.
• One button is ideal. If you need a second one, tone it down (i.e. use an outlined button, soften the colour or remove it’s shadow.)

People rarely read banners and footers, so never put any CTA there.

Lead Magnet forms

Don’t lose the lead by trying to qualify and categorize.

• Focus on getting contact details.
• Keep your forms simple, it gives you something to discuss when you email or call.
• One form, one objective. Forms should not multi-task (it leads to irrelevant questions).
• Use trust indicators like testimonials or security badges near the form.
• Don’t misuse their information. Not ever.

User-Friendly Layout

• No walls of text. Short sentences. Short paragraphs.
• Replace “and”, “but”, “although” and “because” with a full stop. Make a 2nd sentence.
• Use different levels of headings, subheadings, and bullet points. BTW, that is also good SEO.
• Images that are viewed together must complement each other. Be cautious about mixing photo styles on a page.
• If you have a lot of images, make a gallery with a pop-up slideshow.
• Make pages user friendly for the webmaster – if it’s hard to maintain, it won’t be maintained.

Don’t guess, engage

• Ask subscribers to rate your usability, and what content they would like
• Use your analytics to see what pages are working, and how long people stop on a page.
• Try different options for your home page, and monitor the results
• Create an alternative landing page for special content. Share that page rather than something generic. Using categories and tags is a low maintenance way to do this.
• Do polls and surveys, a quiz, something fun and interesting
• Keep improving
• Don’t stress if your engagement is low – that is normal. People use up their emotional quota on social media and don’t comment like they used to. But the few who do should be valued and thanked.