There are a lot of excellent websites out there and many have focused on improving the user experience in recent years, but there are still a lot of sites that fail to pay enough attention to usability issues.
Here are 10 facts which make it a poor website, even known or branded ones. Read on….
1. Poor navigation
People visit your website to find information or the product they are looking for. Navigation should be easy to find and use, and always located in the same spot on every page, which means standardization protocols need to be followed. The maximum a user would surf your website would be just about 7 seconds, if he / she finds it too difficult to maneuver, the user would just leave your site! So, make it obvious and as straightforward as possible.
2. Site intros / Interstitials
People are not willing to watch a 30 second advert before they get to the article they want to read. Some sites make it hard to find the link to do this on their Flash introduction page. A very good example of this is Forbes.com
3. Too many ‘Bookmark My Site’ buttons
If people want to bookmark your site, they will do it, no need to ask them. Apart from that adding such buttons may waste valuable space on your web page. Don’t go berserk over just adding a few extra bookmark links!
4. Overlay ads
Overlays are simply awful for the user experience. Advertisers shouldn’t be buying them. It’s this sort of thing that has led to the rise of pop-up blockers and ad- skipping.
5. Disabled back button
Okay, you have disabled the “Back” button. Smart eh? Wrong! They would still use the ‘X” (popularly known as the Close button) to leave your site.
6. Excessive use of Flash
Flash has its uses, but we don’t think there’s any reason for using it to power your website. When done badly, it can take ability to perform multiple tasks, can confuse users and there are plenty of issues relating to accessibility.
7. Hidden contact details
Prominently displayed contact details can help stimulate trust. Hiding contact details has the opposite effect. Instances like hiding the company details including email address and telephone numbers certainly are a deterrent.
8. Slow loading sites
Earlier on an ‘eight-second-loading-time-for-a-page’ was in, but with the advent of faster broadband connection, this seems to slow down the page. Any time more than this will prompt the user to hit the “back” button instantly.
9. Automatic audio/video
If you want to play a video or listen to something, you will click on it. Otherwise it is just annoying, and intrusive. What do you think?
10. Poor Page layout
So here is a catch….read 2 lines from my site, go all the way down the page, r read all those stupid ads before reading further. That’s definitely annoying. And as for the sites that automatically expand the browser window to use your full screen, well, they really suck.
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