Does Your Website Have What Your Visitors Want? - Usable Content, More than Usable Design
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I'll address the quality of your content in another article; for now, I'd like to talk about its usability. This may seem like a strange issue, but it's more important than many site builders think. Are your headlines descriptive enough that visitors know what to expect? For instance, to take an admittedly optimistic example of a news story, "Middle East Leaders Sign Peace Treaty with Israel" is much more descriptive than "Hope for Peace in Middle East Reawakens."
The accuracy of your information also plays a very important role in your content's usability. If you publish news, you know that inaccurate information can earn you a lawsuit. It can also harm your reputation and convince your visitors to look elsewhere.
As I mentioned, I will address the quality of your content more completely in another article, but it also plays a role in your site's usability. For example, let's say you run a website that features directions for how to build birdhouses. It helps if the directions include a list of supplies at the beginning, go through the process step-by-step, and perhaps include some recommendations (such as exactly what kind of paint to use, and why). Photos of the birdhouse as it is being built would also be helpful. Think about what would help you as a visitor, and build accordingly.
I've told you the various factors that go into making your site usable. When you are building your website, you should also concern yourself with making sure its design looks professional. Visitors do not trust websites that appear to be "low budget" or only marginally professional -- and they won't buy from someone they don't trust. Remember what I said earlier about how quickly a visitor can decide whether a site's design is pleasant or jarring? Well, even if your website isn't jarring, you have less than seven seconds to convince visitors that you business is professional, and to convey its importance and authority.
This doesn't mean that your website must be designed by a professional, but it does mean that you need to be aware of the points that differentiate an amateurish-looking site from a professional one. Does your logo look amateurish or professional? Does your color scheme look elegant, or do the colors clash? Is your site's navigation well-defined? Are you using basic stock photography for your images, or high-quality photography? Does your layout look like a template (too cookie cutter), or does the design allow visitors' eyes to flow intuitively to the information they need as they need it? The quality of your website's design is not directly ranked by the search engines, but it can have an enormous effect on your visitors.
In the next article, I'll discuss what you need to do to ensure that your site's content is of high quality, and how to attract people to link to your site (hint: it's not about reciprocal linking). Until next time!
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