Web usability – the ease with which users can find information on a web site – is one of the most often overlooked elements of building a small business web site. What may be surprising, though, is that web usability often determines whether visitors actually make purchases, follow your call to action (like call your 800 number or sign up for your mailing list), or stick around on your site long enough to learn what you have to offer (i.e., web site “stickiness”).

Here is what Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., a user advocate and highly respected expert in the field of web site usability, has to say about web site usability:

“If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If the home page fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website’s information is hard to read or doesn’t answer users’ key questions, they leave. Note a pattern here?”

But when a business takes the time to redesign its web site, no matter what business metric is used to evaluate it (increase in traffic, improved sales, better conversion rates, etc.), the average improvement has now been shown to be 83%. (Nielsen, 2008).

So if you’d like to improve your web site conversions, increase traffic from search and referral visitors, and enjoy that 83% improvement for your own site, try these 10 tips for improving your web site’s usability:

1. Follow standard web conventions – Don’t waste your visitors’ time or attention by making them guess where they should click or figure out how your site works. Stick with established standards like blue, underlined text for links and clear consistent navigation on every page.
2. Pay attention to page load times – If your web pages take too long to download, especially your home page, visitors will quickly become frustrated and simply click away rather than wait for your page to finish loading.
3. Eliminate complicated Flash designs – If you have Flash animation on your page that is merely serving as decoration, get rid of it. Every element on your page should focus on meeting user needs and should not distract them from your message.
4. Abolish splash screens – Splash screens do not serve any purpose for users and typically send them searching for the “skip intro” button. Splash screens give visitors the impression that you care more about your own company’s image than you care about your users or their time. Skip the pretentious splash screen and give your users what they really want – information in a clear, easy-to-use web site.
5. Use headings, sub-headings, and white space – On the web, people don’t automatically read the text on a page; instead, they scan the headings to find the information they’re looking for. Use plenty of headings and sub-headings to clearly label information, and use lots of white space to visually break up large amounts of content.
6. Keep page length short – Don’t make your users scroll through too much content on a page – break it up into smaller, more manageable pieces and create separate pages instead. Better to have several smaller pages rather than one huge, overwhelming page that requires users to scroll (and possibly tune out or lose interest).
7. Provide interactive content – At the very least, your site should have a Blog where visitors can access updated content about your business and post comments if they’d like. Consumer ratings, feedback forms, web video, web widgets, and social networking applications are also interesting forms of content that can be used on your web site as well.
8. Add a site search – One of the most useful features you can provide is a site search feature that allows users to search for the specific information they are looking for. Even better, offer a search feature that allows them to search just your web site or to search the entire web.
9. Be careful with colors – Always make sure that the colors you use provide enough contrast to be readable on a computer monitor. For instance, black text on a white background is easiest for people to read, especially those with disabilities or color blindness. Also be careful about using colors that can be too stark or jarring – the idea is to make your visitors feel at ease, not uneasy.
10. Be Easy to Reach – Users today expect to see a Contact Us page that gives them multiple ways to contact your company. In addition to listing your physical mailing address, provide your toll free number, cell phone numbers, email address, and any other methods you commonly use for communication. If you use social media, consider providing that information as well (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instant messenger, Facebook, etc.).