This week has been all about learning ways to improve a website from essential features to usability to facts on how people view sites. Let me share some of my newfound knowledge (in no particular order):
- People start viewing on the top left corner of the page and work their way across and down
- Clean, easy navigation is key
- Ads that are placed on the left or top part of the site receive the most views
- Keep advertisements prominently placed but far enough out of the way that visitors can use the site without being swarmed
- Make your site layout compatible with all types of screens such as mobile, tablet, or desktop
- By the time people hit the lower parts of your site, they are only scanning
- Headlines draw attention, but fancy fonts do not
- Pictures that are bigger catch viewers’ eye more than small ones
- Ads inside or below a great piece of content get more views
- Navigation bars and menus should be placed on the top part of the site
- Use contrast to make your site more readable and accessible to visitors and to direct reader’s attention to where you want it to go
- Lists are better than large chunks of text and paragraphs
- Avoid confusion by having a clear message. The site’s objective should be obvious
- Avoid drop-down menus because they are inaccessible to touch devices
- Banners are ignored
- Take away distractions – animation, audio ads, pop up ads – or at least keep them to a minimum
Have fun making your website the best it can be!