10 Web Usability Tips

1. Every page should feature a "back" or "home" button. The navigation bar's location should be consistent on every page.

2. If you have a photo gallery, make sure your visitors can enlarge photos and scroll between them while enlarged. This way your visitors won't be forced to close one enlarged photo and open the next. Usability's first rule of thumb is the less “clicks”, the happier the visitor.

3. If you have music on your site make sure the visitor can easily identify the player and switch it off if they so choose.



4. Don’t overload- rich media websites are slower to load, testing the users patience.



5. Be consistent with the design pattern and alignment, don't change your grid on every page.

6. If your website has more than the customary 4-5 tabs, and has more than one menu, make sure there's an easy flow from one page to another and that users can easily spot the sub-menus.

7. Place all contact info under one section - don’t scatter it around your website.



8. Users are usually intimidated by long texts. Be specific, highlight (Bold or with color) relevant texts so they pop out to the visitor. Fact is, most users will probably only read the highlighted text.

9. Integrate Symbols and Icons into your design. Symbols are Icons are usually international, easy to understand and add a great look and feel to your site.



10. Before publishing your site, conduct a usability test, showing your website to as many people as possible. Be present with them while they enter your website, monitor their reactions and where they get stuck.

This post is from wix blog.

Writing for Your Website

Creating your own website involves a few tasks that are not part of the average daily life, and writing online content is one of them. Here few simple guidelines could come in handy:


Menus and Buttons

Avoid using too many puns or abstract phrasing. Buttons’ sole role is to allow easy and smooth navigation for your site visitors. Don't confuse them by using terms they may not understand. For instance, “Get in Touch” could be a good alternative for the “Contact” button, but “Carrier Pigeon” might be a bit too much.


Describing Yourself/ Your Business

This part should vary according to the service or product you’re offering. Artists, for one, should personalize their bio and not restrict it to a customary education and awards section. There should also be some kind of life story or short manifesto included. This can also apply to a company, only without the personal tone. It is important to describe the product, the quality of service and the advantages compared with competitors (but don't get too nasty!). Some businesses, like medical services or wedding photography, involve a great amount of trust, where a personal statement from the leading professional of the company is a real plus.


Text Length and Structure

In our WWW era, people don't bother to read long texts, so unless your site is actually an online magazine, a blog or a newsletter of some sort, try to keep your content short. For the same reason, we advise you to avoid long paragraphs and sentences. The important thing is to make sure your key ideas and messages are clearly phrased and easy to understand. If you add scrollable text boxes, make sure the most important points appear at the very beginning. And use a READABLE font size.


Writing Style

We can't, of course, recommend the same style of writing for all websites. A website for a human rights organization should not adopt the same tone a basketball summer camp does. We can, however, advise you to stay away from extremes within your own style. If you want to write cheekily, dropping a joke every two sentences will only create the opposite effect. If you want to write professionally, you still need to use adjectives here and there and avoid a strict technical phrasing. Online content contributors usually live in extremes, but write carefully.


Flexibility

One of the biggest revolutions of online text is that it's easy to edit, so make good use of that. Go over your texts every once in a while and make changes if you see fit. A good website reacts to changes in the outside world. You can do this by referring to special sales that you have at the moment, to national or international events, to big news that relate to your business and so forth. It also adds to the credibility of your website, since the visitors see it is often updated and active.