Nowadays, every second company has its own website and everybody has realized the importance of the Brownie points they get by having a website in place. A website is your company’s cover page and the way it functions, goes on to become the impression that the audience will hold about your firm. A lot depends on the viewers’ perception about your website and a good impression can only be ensured when the experience is good. For this, most people and organizations end up spending thousands of dollars but not all sites become a hit with people. This is because a swanky looking website isn’t something that guarantees success and what is more important is its user-centric nature. This is the reason why most experienced developers concentrate on content and the user-friendliness of the website rather than the design. Designing a user-centric website needs a few extra steps and here are a few great tips that can be used to make the website a better experience for the users.
Content As Prime Focus
The first and the most important reason as to why someone would visit your website is the content and all the other things like design and color scheme come later on the list. This is why the content of the website should be focused upon. Also, it should not be something that confuses people and the best option is to have the information in a simple, easy to understand language that everybody can easily use and spread. Basically, the motto is to hit the nail on the head and give your clients what they are looking for. Also, make sure the information is error-free and crisp and facilitates a good SEO.
Avoid Drop-Down Menus
Drop-down and fly-out menus look good on the screen but when it comes to functionality, they do not prove to be the best thing that happened to your website. These menus are bad for your SEO and reduce the link authority. They are bad for users too as they increase their work and make them look for information. Instead of these, using click-driven menus which make the navigation easier is a better idea. This way, the user gets a new screen with sub-categories whenever he or she clicks on an option. Keeping it simple is the key.
Ensure Fast Loading
We all know that the internet is a competitive world and clients have hundred of options to choose from. This is why nobody has the time to waste on a website that loads slowly and the person would switch to the next site. To avoid this, you must opt for a good server which provides an optimum speed. This can be done with the help of sites which lay down various servers and allow you to have a demo trial run to check the speed. This will help you in knowing from before if the server will be able to provide you with the required speed.
Avoid Excessive Images
As mentioned above, content and the information are what people are looking for and adding too many images reduces the functionality of your website. Sure images are exciting but you do not want your website to look like a photo gallery and reduce the quality of your information source. Keeping less and content-appropriate images at the right places will improve the loading time as well as the user experience.
These simple but important tips can make a good deal for you and increase the value of your website to a great extent. By keeping them in mind, you can ensure a good result and increased visibility of your site.
This post in contributed by PixelCrayons, PixelCrayons converts your design files from various common image formats into best quality cross-browser compatible W3C validated XHTML/CSS markup. Check html.pixelcrayons.com for our psd to xhtml and html5 web development .