Web Site Navigation


Have you ever visited a site expecting to find what something,
but instead got so frustrated that you just left the site?  This
is very common on the Web, as many sites are so impossible to
navigate within and understand that they are turning away
visitors at every turn. That's why Web site usability has become
such a hot topic lately. InfoWorld deemed it so important that
they named Mark Hurst, President of Creative Good, "Netpreneur
of the Year". Last year alone, Mark helped companies such as
Amazon.com, CDNow, Dell, Schwab and Travelocity make their sites
easier to use. So this week we asked him how he thought Web site
owners could improve the usability on their sites.

Editor:   Why should Web site owners be concerned about ease of
use on their site?

Hurst:    For e-commerce, the easier it is for customers to buy,
the more customers will buy. Conversely, if customers *can't*
use your site, they *won't* use your site, no matter how much is
spent on ads and marketing.

In general, the easier it is to use a site, the more revenue,
the more repeat traffic, and the better branding a site will
get.


Editor:   When people first visit a site are they expecting to
find the site easy to use or do they expect some element of
confusion?

Hurst:    It's more like they hope. Customers hope that a site
will serve them quickly and easily. If the site fails to do so,
customers will click off to hope a competitor's site will help.


Editor:   What are the most common usability mistakes on Web
sites?

Hurst:    The mother of all mistakes online is creating a Web
site focused on anything other than a good customer experience.
For example, some designs exist to make the CEO feel happy. Some
designs are focused on making the designer look good. Only those
designs that exist to serve the customer will win.


Editor:   Is it important that sites be consistent throughout?

Hurst:    Yes, make sure that the same logo appears in the
upper-left of every page; past that, consistency isn't always
important.


Editor:   What is the most effective way to display information
and/or products on a site?

Hurst:    There's no one answer: effective design depends on the
site. It depends on the goals of the site, the resources
available, the target customer, and other factors.


Editor:   How can Web site owners simplify the navigation on
their site for their visitors?

Hurst:    Focus every page, if possible, on one goal. The Web
isn't good at accomplishing multiple things at once. Use lots of
text links - and underline them. Don't use hip design touches to
hide the links from the user, even if it makes the site look
beautiful. And yes, label links clearly. Say what you mean, then
get out of the user's way.


Editor:   What is the first thing Web site owners should be
doing to improve site usability?

Hurst:    The very first thing to do is get an outside opinion
of the site. Internal people are naturally biased, or have
tunnel vision, from being too close. But if the CEO or VP of
Marketing really must call the shots on how the customer
experience is structured, force him or her to use the site over
a 28.8 connection, in 640x480 resolution,through AOL.


About the Expert
Mark Hurst is the President of Creative Good
(http://www.creativegood.com) and specializes on helping
companies create good customer experiences on their site.


TIPS & TRICKS________________________________________________
______________________________________________BRAND YOUR SITE

Often search engines list several pages of a site, so when
someone is searching for a specific topic they may be directed
to one of your secondary pages instead of your home page; and
many secondary pages do not have identifying information on
them. Without such information how will they find you again?

This is why you should consider creating one consistent place on
each page of your site where you can place your name and logo
(if you have one). Most sites place this in the upper left
corner of each page. Remember not only would this brand your
site, but it will also make it easier for your visitors to find
you in the future!

To see how we branded our site, CHECK OUT:

--->http://www.WebSiteGarage.com

METRICS_______________________________________________________
_________________________________HOW FAST DOES YOUR SITE LOAD?

If your site takes too long to load, it won't matter what else
you do to your site because any prospective visitors will have
left already. So it's important to continually try to reduce
your site's load time. Based on Tune Ups run through Web Site
Garage here are the average load times:

14.4K          41.2 sec
28.8K          22.7 sec
33.6K          19.5 sec
56K            15.3 sec
128K            5.4 sec
T1              1.6 sec