Why I Got Lost and Left Your Site

Category General, Tools and Resources | 17 comments »

I spend hours surfing the web, reading articles, and watching videos. Each site gets about a second to lure me in or watch me leave. Knowing how many users are enjoying your content, and how many are bouncing away is the first step in creating a useful website. Making sure you follow acceptable usability guidelines is the next step.

Good navigation is a must for any website. Going from one page to another should be intuitive and easy. Make sure each page has a navigation bar that points to major parts of your site.

The more options people have the better you chances of someone finding something they like. Be careful not to overload the navigation bar though, that might just turn people away.

One thing many people don’t do, but I highly recommend is making your logo a link to your home page. Giving people multiple options to get to your front page allows people to easily start over if they get lost.

Another question to ask yourself is, “Can people read what’s written?”. Using large legible fonts is important. Users are moving towards larger screens, with higher resolution. That size 11 font is a thing of the past, move to something easier to read and easy on the eyes.

Once you know your site is usable and people aren’t bouncing because of the way the site looks and flows, it’s time to decide what are important parts of your site.

Start by creating goals and conversion points. For example, are you trying to get users to sign up for your newsletter? or are you pushing a specific product?

Google offers the ability to track your conversions via Google Analytics. You should definitely set it up and watch it often.

When we talk about website flow we’re referring to how well your site funnels visitors. How long do they stay? How many are sent to conversion points? How many convert?

I’m going to leave the end of this post open, since there are so many different tips about navigation. I’ll post my favorite tip and ask that you add one in the comment section. When everyone has had a chance to sound off, I’ll compile them all together.

Samir’s Tip: Most users refuse to click on more than 3 links to find pertinent information. The less obstacles to a conversion point, the more likely they are to convert.

Now it’s your turn…

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