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!