Usability first for websites
Improving the usability of your website is essential for creating a great user experience (UX). If your site is hard to use, users will quickly leave, no matter how beautiful your design is. Here are practical tips for making your website more user-friendly, along with some tools—both free and paid—that can help.
1. Simplify Your Layout
Why It Matters: A cluttered layout can overwhelm and confuse users. A clean, minimalist design helps users focus on what's important, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable experience.
What to Do:
Use white space to create breathing room around elements and reduce visual clutter.
Ensure a clear hierarchy in your design, so users can easily follow the flow—whether it's navigating menus, reading content, or completing tasks.
Maintain consistency in your design elements, such as colours, fonts, and buttons, across all pages.
Tools to Help:
Balsamiq (paid): A wireframing tool to quickly sketch layouts and plan your site’s structure.
Figma (free and paid): A collaborative design tool for prototyping, offering templates and layouts that improve usability.
2. Make Navigation Clear and Intuitive
Why It Matters: If users can't find what they're looking for, they'll leave. An intuitive navigation system helps users easily find information or complete tasks.
What to Do:
Stick to traditional navigation patterns that users are familiar with, such as top navigation bars or sticky menus.
Keep menus simple—avoid overcrowding by limiting menu items.
Include a search function for larger websites, so users can quickly find specific content.
Tools to Help:
Crazy Egg (paid): Visual tracking tools like heatmaps to see how users interact with your site and identify navigation issues.
Hotjar (free and paid): Record user sessions and track clicks to improve navigation.
3. Optimise for Accessibility
Why It Matters: Accessibility ensures your site can be used by everyone, including those with disabilities. It not only helps with inclusivity but also boosts your SEO ranking.
What to Do:
Use descriptive alt text for all images so that screen readers can convey meaning to visually impaired users.
Ensure high colour contrast between text and background for better readability.
Design with keyboard navigation in mind so users can navigate without a mouse.
Tools to Help:
WAVE (free): A tool for checking accessibility issues on your website.
Colour Safe (free): A tool to help you choose accessible colour palettes that meet web accessibility guidelines.
4. Prioritise Typography
Why It Matters: Legibility is key. Users will quickly leave your site if your text is hard to read. Good typography enhances the readability and overall experience.
What to Do:
Use a readable font such as Arial or Helvetica, and make sure body text is at least 16px in size.
Pay attention to line height and letter spacing—too little space can make text hard to read.
Limit your font choices to two or three to avoid clutter and keep the design simple.
Tools to Help:
Google Fonts (free): A wide range of web-friendly fonts for your website.
Typecast (paid): A typography tool that helps you create harmonious font combinations for better readability.
5. Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
Why It Matters: Clear CTAs direct users to the next step—whether that’s purchasing, subscribing, or contacting you. Unclear or poorly designed CTAs can lead to missed conversions.
What to Do:
Use contrasting colours to make your CTA buttons stand out.
Write action-oriented text that clearly tells users what will happen when they click.
Make sure CTAs are easy to find—place them in prominent, consistent spots on your pages.
Tools to Help:
OptinMonster (paid): Create high-converting pop-ups and forms for capturing leads.
Unbounce (paid): Design landing pages with strong CTAs that increase conversions.
6. Speed Matters
Why It Matters: Slow websites drive users away. Studies show that over 50% of users will abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Fast websites enhance user experience and improve search engine rankings.
What to Do:
Compress images to reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve your content faster by delivering it from servers closest to the user.
Minimise CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to reduce site load time.
Tools to Help:
GTmetrix (free and paid): Tests your website’s speed and recommends improving load times.
Pingdom (paid): Provides performance insights and helps optimise your site for speed.
7. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Why It Matters: Over half of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your website isn’t responsive, users will have a frustrating experience and likely leave.
What to Do:
Use responsive design techniques to ensure your site adapts to different screen sizes.
Ensure thumb-friendly buttons and links are large enough for mobile users to tap quickly.
Avoid pop-ups that are hard to close on mobile devices.
Tools to Help:
Google Mobile-Friendly Test (free): A quick test to see if your site is mobile-friendly and get suggestions for improvement.
BrowserStack (paid): Test how your site appears across multiple devices and browsers to ensure compatibility.
Conclusion
Improving your website’s usability doesn’t require a huge budget, but it does require thoughtful design decisions. By simplifying your layout, ensuring clear navigation, making your site accessible, and prioritising readability and speed, you can create a website that provides an excellent experience for all users. Regular testing and iteration, using the right tools, can help you keep improving and refining your website's usability over time.
By focusing on these core usability principles, your site can offer a better experience for your visitors, boost conversions, and keep users coming back for more.
