Article by Dean Payn
But it looks so pretty! I’ve yet to meet a business owner who can be consoled over their poorly performing website with a line like this.
Every website should be created with a purpose in mind, and for commercial sites, that purpose must be to assist with some part of the sales process and increase revenue. So how is it that most businesses don’t see their site as a valuable part of their sales toolkit, let alone a top contributor? Consider this: What does it feel like to be a visitor to your website?
One of the greatest pitfalls in website development can be missed by a whole room of staff members, but found by a potential client in less than 30 seconds. Instead of looking at your site as a whole, try to do something you would imagine the average customer would do. It may involve placing an order or something as simple as locating the ‘Contact us’ information. Exercises like this can reveal where function has taken a back seat to design... for the worse. Are action buttons clear?
Otherwise known as the ‘Can I click on that?’ factor. You can’t just rely on text to ensure website users know to ‘click here’. In fact, you’d be amazed how often key navigation buttons are so effectively worked into the design of a site that they no longer make it clear how to get around.
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