Web Site Usability - Best Practices and Helpful Guidelines
The content that yoru site contains will have more impact and be easier to read if you plan your site's layout carefully. Below are a few recommendations on how to improve your site's layout and visual clarity:
- White Space. Usage of white space, as in this example: http://workspaces.com/, makes the page as uncluttered as possible to allow the user to be able to quickly scan the page. Do not waste valuable home page real estate using large images and use the remaining space to add text and calls to action.
- Color. The usage of color on your site pages, especially the home page, will be critical to driving customers to do what you want them to do. A highly organized home page is the Irv's Luggage Warehouse http://www.irvs.com home page. They use color to their advantage; with the greys / blues used to direct the user's eyes from section to section. All text on the page is sharp and easy to read. The page is laid out with the user in mind; to get the user to the product, and allows the user to make purchasing decisions quickly.
- Text links. Another good way to improve the navigability of your site is to embed text links to relevant pages within the body copy. A user can scan quickly and jump to other pages.
- Content. Your site's content is your opportunity to illustrate your unique selling points. Discuss your products and services and why the user should purchase them from you, versus your competition.