I don’t want to read – Take me to the podcast!

Begin by asking 5 Questions about your website:

  1. Is my brand and my offer clear? With less than three seconds, can a visitor identify your brand and what you do?

Many times, we are all too familiar with our company, and we neglect viewing it through a visitor’s eyes. While the site may be “old” to us, it is new to most of your visitors – be sure they get the full story.

  1. Is my Call to Action obvious? Regardless of how people find your site (search, social, links), are you showing them what you want them to do? Is it clear? Is it one of the most obvious buttons on the page?

Your Call to Action is your moneymaker. It is the action that makes you money, and it needs to be clear through color, contrast, and wording that moves people towards action.

  1. Is my content written in a distinctive hierarchy? Do you use a clear headline, sub-headings, and content structures such as bullet points and highlights?

People do not read your content, they scan it – in seconds. By using a clear content hierarchy, you enable people to browse the headlines for the key words relevant to their inquiry.

  1. Is my content easy to read? Considering your target audience, is the text on the page easy to read based on size and contrast? Have you tested this on a mobile device as well?

As people scan content quickly, they avoid paragraphs of small text. If your text is presented in a low contrast color scheme (light grey on white, white on color), it will prevent people from reading the important content you’ve developed. Our eyes start to lose power when we are in our 30’s and further decline with age. Consider your audience and increase text contrast and text size.

  1. Have I tested a specific task with an independent user? Rather than evaluate the “look and feel” of a website. Use a task-based evaluation with a test subject. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Simply get a user to perform a specific task on your website and observe what they do, how they react, and what obstacles they encounter. Make the task as true-to-life and DO NOT coach the tester. Observe and evaluate the feedback. It could be the best testing investment you make.

Are You Interested to Know More?

There are plenty of ways to test your website. Just listen in on the podcast between Matt Bailey and Kim Krause-Berg. They discuss usability and simple ways that you can increase your website’s “sale-ability.”