Website usability refers to user-focused and user-friendly web design. Users should feel comfortable in using, navigating and retrieving the information they need. Website usability is justified when the website is interactive, interesting and informative.

Website design has different categories like e-commerce website, corporate website, educational websites, etc. These different categories have their different and diverse usability needs. An e-commerce website’s usability is entirely different from an information providing website. An e-commerce website needs several usability features like shopping cart, payment gateway, etc. that is useless for an information website. So the web developers should checklist the website usability issues according to specific website’s type and need.  The important and general website usability issues include –

Page Loading Issue:

Page loading time should be fast, the standard loading time being 8.4 seconds. It is a crucial website usability issue as no one likes to wait long enough for a web page to download. It’s a nagging and tricky issue for web developers as they have to pour stuffs to make a website interesting but at the same time they have to follow the standard page loading time. Use of CSS is preferred instead of tables and images for a better page loading time.

Easy Information Retrieval:

Information retrieval should be easy. Researches show that we behave differently while reading a web content. We tend to scan the page rather than reading the whole content. So it’s better to provide crisp and highlighted contents. You can attract users with an impressive design, but it’s your website’s content that keeps them at your website and convince them for their next visit. It is the best tool to improve your search engine ranking too. Prefer using headlines, bold texts, bullet list etc.

User-friendly Navigation:

Navigation is one of the crucial usability issues. Users have become habitual of certain web elements and layout. It’s better to follow the standard web page layout. Properly use all the standard page elements like company logo, about us, product information and contact information. It’s advisable to provide a site map for website’s having more internal pages. Proper internal linking is expected from a good website.

Restriction Free Website:

A user-friendly website means no restriction on users. Never impose any restriction on users to navigate away from your website. It is the most annoying experience for a user. When a link is opened in a new window the back button is disabled. This is a critical usability issue as most of the users are habitual of using back button to navigate. Avoid use of frame to layout your design as it may create many nagging issues like back-button and bookmarking disability, external links opening in same window or page printing problem.

Error Free Website:

Apart from the entire above usability issues, a website is usable when it is error-free and crash-proof. A single error can crash your website. Develop and design a website free from all the issues of html error, CSS error and other programming code errors.

“Write for the readers” – the basic idea of conventional writing is applied here too with a technical blend of SEO terms like keyword, competitor research etc. Because ultimately it is the human users who make the decision of purchase, not the spiders of search engines.
Relevant and informative copywriting indeed is the very foundation for a website to be successful. Good content and excellent website setup directs your visitors to what exactly they desire while collecting or inquiring for information in your website.
Prepare these questions as you think about content topics for copywriting:

•    For whom I am writing?
•    Is the content relevant, new or innovative for my reader?
•    Is it focused on what you can give to the reader more than what you will receive from writing it?

It is advisable that your content should have about 250 words that are viewable per page, having a maximum of 3 targeted keywords or search terms placed strategically inside the text.
Once you get to the copywriting stage, you should have already performed keyword and competitor research. Because then you have to take the words from that research and write, succinct, fluid, readable content based on this data.

Tips for SEO Copywriting:

SEO Copywriting is an art of literary writing strictly following technical terms. And like all art forms, SEO Copywriting takes time to get going in the right direction.

• •  Active voice priority – Search engines read left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Writing in active voice usually helps you get your keywords in earlier in the sentence.
• •  Use keyword instead of a pronoun – Don’t stuff it, but consider which spots you can sub out a pronoun and use another variation of the keyword.
• •  Precise, relevant and simple sentences – Visitors are in hurry, they don’t like to spend much time reading contents. So as you don’t have much time to catch reader’s attention, make it short and eye-catchy.

Nowadays with increasing work pressure, hiring a VA is essential for most business owners and professionals. But hiring the right VA is the key to lessen the work burden rather than increase it.  Make sure that they can handle the tasks you give them in a timely manner. And also the person you choose should have the experience of handling a wide array of tasks.

Google search listing for “virtual assistant” will confuse you with tons of results. Search through those, check their services and do some interviews. Or find people in your contact and ask them who they use and recommend. If no one is using these services in your personal contact then ask people in your networking groups whom they recommend.

Before you approach a VA, list out the types of tasks you’d expect your VA to complete. Make sure that your VA has the skills and software to handle your task.

VA rates vary from $3 per hour to $60 per hour. You just need to consider the right fit for your business need and budget.
Some Things to Consider When Hiring a VA –

• •   Find out what skills they posses and available software.
• •   Find out their payment mode; whether they expect it before service or after service completion. I recommend the latter one.
• •   Ask how they would like to be paid. Can you use a credit card, PayPal or net banking?
• •   Find out how they track their hours and how they insure you’re aware that projects are completed. By using a project management system you can automate this process.
• •   Make them sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before starting your work. This means they will be confidential about the information and work they are doing for you.
• •   Some VA’s will give you a price break if you keep them on retainer for a certain hours each month. You may want to ask about that.
• •   Before hiring a VA you may test him by offering him a small project to start and see how well you communicate and work together.
• •   If you have a limited budget, you can target your search to countries like India and Phillipines where you can get cost effective services. But all the above points should be kept in mind before choosing a VA.

Social media marketing is a prominent feature of online marketing. Social networks have become a meeting place of diverse personalities and a platform to share thoughts and ideas. Our social networking address is our own asset where we invite and make new friends to communicate and share views. We are turning to social media networks in millions of numbers as active users. Through social media marketing technique you will get direct exposure to millions of customers.

Social Media Marketing is being used prominently to achieve branding and marketing goals. Social media networks such as Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Hi5 etc help you build your brand, expand your reach, and get found. It’s a platform to advertise your company and its product or service offering. Social Media websites include those sites where news, photos and videos are user-generated.

Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Furl and others are social bookmarking sites allowing users to bookmark their favorite web pages and share useful and interesting information.

These websites have certain mechanisms to allow users to vote for the submitted contents of other users to gauge particular content’s popularity. Creation and distribution of content through social media can be easily managed. Messages sent directly to desired customers through social media. Message can’t be twisted or misinterpreted in the process. Great inflow of feedbacks and critiques can be expected through social media marketing. It is extremely useful in gauging customer’s demand and expectation for improving your product.

Designing an efficient website which is unique and user-friendly is very important. Websites should be well design to cope with web 2.0 and W3C standards as well as follow the latest trends.

Now with businesses becoming global, websites should be designed for diverse visitors from all parts of the world. You can never predict future and when it comes to web its almost impossible. Here is the list of top 10 design trend that I think will prevail further –

Sketches

They get noticed easily on a page and give a unique look. Hand drawn designs are not new but will prevail greatly compared to traditional graphics. It will play elementary role in corporate design.
Typography

Typography started over the past year. It is one of the most difficult trends and so will remain fresh. Typography will be used as an integral part of design to create desired effect rather than boring and old system fonts.  Web designers will continue creating more exciting fonts in place of system text.
Oversized Logos/ Headers

To make an everlasting imprints on the visitors oversized logos and oversized headers will be used. Splash pages are outdated so this trend will replace them.
Large images

Closely related to the above trend, large images are being used commonly to create unique and long lasting impression. Its not a part of site’s branding but it draws greater traffic.
Magazine Layouts

More and more users are going online for information and entertainment. This trend welcomes them with an ease of finding all the available options at home page like the magazines. The familiar layout will appeal them.
Single Page Layouts

Nobody wants to waste their time searching whole website for seeking particular information. This trend is the one stop solution to provide proper navigation.
Modal/Light Boxes

Modal boxes are great. They are next generation pop-ups. They are sophisticated, cleaner, smooth and user-friendly. Presentation of text, image or video will become clean, crisp and focused.
Intro Blocks

The upper-left area of a website is the most important spot as it grabs most attention from visitors. This is the best place to get your message out and seen quickly. You will find it prominently in corporate design, web apps, and portfolios.
Interactive/ Intuitive Design

Better interactive and intuitive designs are in great demand. Visitors are more tech savvy so the demand for this time is to provide more interactive designs.

Mobile phone compatibility

With smart phones getting popular, it is important for websites to be compatible with hand held devices so as to cater to a very large demographic of smart phone users.

WebSparkles is a professional and leading company providing quality web services. We specialize in Web Design and Development, Branding and Logo, SEO, Copywriting and Virtual Assistant Services.

With our blog, we strive to share our knowledge and latest trends in the online world. Watch this space for exciting stuff.