If you want to build a popular and profitable website, you must pay attention to usability aspects. Many webmasters neglect this, and they end up losing many visitors over the long term. Below you'll find 5 very common usability mistakes that you should avoid.
1. Using An “Intro” Page
Also called “splash page”, this is nothing more than a page that only introduces your website, asking the visitors to click on a link to proceed to the homepage. Using such pages is a big mistake, because they will add an unnecessary step between your visitors and your content.
2. Not Showing What Your Site Is About
Remember this rule: your visitors must understand what your website is about within seconds of comingto it. In order to achieve this goal you can use a descriptive logo, a tagline, display a lot of content above the fold and so on.
3. Not Writing Scannable Content
Internet users are natural multi-taskers, and they also have very short attention spans. As a result, your content must be scannable, else they will move somewhere else. Practically speaking, make sure to use visible headers and sub-headers, bullet points, bold and italics typeface when suitable and so on.
4. Breaking Content Into Several Pages
Many mainstream websites break their articles into several pages. This tactic is used to increase the number of page views, but it is incredibly annoying to users. If you can, therefore, make sure to display your articles and other information on a single page.
5. Not Having a Search Box
Internet users rely on search boxes for almost anything these days. If they can't find something on your website right away, it is likely that they will use the search box, and that is why it is essential to have one.
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