12 Tips for Web Site User Experience Testing
September 8, 2009
Web site usability and user experience (UX) go hand-in-hand, and have a huge impact on how well your web site performs. You can do this yourself, although hiring a specialist is well worth the spend, as they’ll spot things you never though of, guaranteed. A colleague who specializes in this area recently scanned the first page of a client’s site and found 10 things that I hadn’t even noticed in my overview.
I’ve listed some of the basics here:
General Overview
- The most basic testing includes checking the basics like spelling errors, redundancies, load time, etc.
- The most important information must be above the fold. Get your visitor involved in your site right away. Don’t make them scroll down to find out what your site is about.
Navigation
- Major navigation should be easily found, without the visitor having to scroll down. It should be simple and intuitive. Keep it consistent on every page.
- Use the site as if you were a first time visitor, and check for any areas that may confuse them as to where to go next or what action to take.
- The site should be set up so the visitor is directed where to go next. If it’s too confusing they may leave.
Content
- Review the content for adjectives that are meaningless to the visitor, such as unique, superior, interactive.
- Delete any fluff aka marketing copy. It’s meaningless and takes up valuable space.
- Use font size help the visitor focus on the most important parts of the page. Make sure your text is readable – don’t use a tiny or pale gray font.
Consistency
- Don’t be unconventional in the basics. People expect navigation to be in certain places, for example the RSS feed button the upper right, and the logo in the upper left.
- Make sure there is consistency of design throughout the site, including fonts, colors, etc. The visitor experience should flow…they should not have to readjust at each new page.
Call to Action
- Make sure you have a “call to action” on every page. The visitor needs to know what you expect them to do. A call to action can be a phone number, contact page, button to click, or form to complete.
- Fill out and submit your contact form and make sure it works; where does the site redirect after the form is submitted – is there a thank you or confirmation page? Did you get an email with the information or did it float go off into the Ethernet?
This is just the beginning; it will give you a start in usability testing, but you can (and should) go much farther with it.
My next post will review some of the available Accessibility and Usability tools you can use to analyze your website.
Free Traffic Getting SEO Plugin
September 8, 2009
I got an offer of a free SEO plugin, and thought I’d try it out on a new, not-yet-launched site and see what it does.
The plugin is called Free Traffic Getting SEO Plugin for WP. Once you’ve installed it on your site, it recommends the best plugins to download for SEO purposes. (It’s so easy to add plugins with the latest versions of WordPress – you just click on “add new” under Plugins in the Admin panel, type in the name of the plugin you want, and install it.)
The cool thing for a lot of non-SEO people, besides the guidance on plugins, is that it will then configure all the plugins’ settings for best SEO results. This is great if you’re not sure which ones to use and then how to set them up properly.
I already have everything it recommended on all my sites, with the correct settings, with one notable exception. It was a plugin I didn’t know about and it’s a good one. (Nope, not gonna tell you! You’ll have to download Jeff Johnson’s plugin and see for yourself.)
This plugin certainly does no harm to a blog or site, and can be quite helpful, so I definitely recommend it. There’s no malware, or secret settings that send your Adsense money to him, nothing like that. If for some reason you don’t like the settings you can change one or set everything back the way it was.
To get the plugin you have to join Jeff’s newsletter. I’m happy to report I haven’t been inundated with emails, which happens sometimes when I sign up for something. Instead, he promises emails over the next few weeks with tutorials and more free tools. I’m looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. Sometimes just one tip can make all the difference in how well a web site ranks and draws traffic.
I don’t recommend things lightly, and I’m pretty cynical about the myriad offers online. But this is one that could be helpful to you, it’s free, and it does no harm.
Speaking of newsletters, if you haven’t subscribed yet, be sure to subscribe to mine right away. I’m preparing my first newsletter, and I’m including a really good SEO tip that helped one person get to the #1 position on Google for a very nice keyword phrase.
10 SEO Tools You Should Be Using
September 8, 2009
I use many tools in my business, to track sites, analyze competition, and of course, to determine keywords. Most of the SEO tools I use are freely available online.
Today I came across a helpful listing of some of the best tools available – Search Marketers’ Toolkit – 60 links you need to know by Jeff Woelker.
A few of my favorites are listed below, but really, you should head over to his post for the complete list.
Browser Tools
- SEOBook Firefox SEO Plug-in
Great for checking out vital info about sites you’re analyzing - SEO Quake
Powerful addon for Firefox – you’ll get more info than you need about web sites - Site Link Checker
Analyze outbound links and anchor text - Yahoo Link Checker
Review your own or a competitor’s inventory of backlinks - Dave Naylor’s Search Tools
The Keyword Density Tool also shows the server header code geolocation, link ratio, and external follow links
Keyword Research Tools
- Google Keyword Tool
My main resource! - Google Insights for Search
This tool helps you find keywords you may not have considered in the first go-round - Google Trends
Find out what people are looking for - Keyword Spy
Paid resource but you can get a some info free
Analytics
- Google Analytics
Awesome free service. Don’t let it overwhelm you – spend some time exploring.
Then of course, there’s Bing.
