“But it works anyway,” people often say about their company website wihtout having done any stats, user analysis or really knowing what their customer comes to seek from it.
Web analysis is an important tool for the owner of the website or company, marketing and sales manager and other related folk. Below we have listed some categories relating to user experinece that are useful to consider as part of preliminary web analysis. We feel that user experience is the most important element of your website – even more relevant than design perhaps, as even if the design doesn’t adhere to the latest trends, the UE has to be of high standard. What do we mean by this?
Ease of navigation
Whether a visitor can easily find information on your website will determine if they will return to the page or not. The more complex your navigation and numerous the amount of links between the various parts of your web page, the smaller the chance that the visitor spends a great length of time on the page and familiarizes themselves with your products and services.
Legibility
Calligraphy and fonts that imitate handwriting may look pretty, but will make it less easy to read with ease. Fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman and Verdana are highly recommended, so that the information would also be legible for the visitor accessing your page from a tablet device or smartphone. We also recommend increased line spacing – again to increase the reading experience.
Dimensions
It is recommended to keep the most relevant information on your page visually on the highest position as well. Most users find horizontal scrolling uncomfortable, in addition to this more than 4-5 vertical scrolls are not recommended. With today’s websites – which need to be accessible from tablets and smartphones due to the increasing user numbers – responsive solutions and parallax have become increasingly relevant.
Color scheme
Different demographic groups have differing reactions to color and it is extremely important to thoroughly think through the color palette for your website. We recommend using tones that are safe, meaning that the green you choose will indeed appear green whether looking at it from a desktop computer or an iPhone.
File sizes
As mentioned in the last blogpost– performance is design. If you have large photos and videos displayed on your page that take time to load then you can be almost certain that the user will leave before even visiting the content pages. If you still want such functionality then the site will have to be developed and optimised by professionals.
In addition to the above, other aspects of web design touch on SEO, consumer group specification, reviewing the technical solution and quality of code as well as on a number of other aspects including accessibility features for those with impaired sight or other access requirements.
Of course, in addition to website renewal a good marketing strategy will also include social media campaigns, web-based marketing activities, brand and imago building activities and various other elements. However, the easiest, quickest and most tangible of these is building a new web page – it provides a window from the outside world into the heart of your business.
* All images from our Pinterest page.