I was told a long time ago that first impressions count.
First impressions are more than just the look of your site though. That first impression might be the first-time visitor trying to navigate your menu, or find something on your site. If they can’t use it properly, or use the site like you envisioned it, then you lose that visitor.
How do you make sure that the average visitor can use your site? Test it thoroughly, and perhaps more importantly, get it tested with people who aren’t web designers or familiar with your site. Friends, relatives and so on. A favourite way of mine is to ask someone to ‘break’ my site. Here are some hints to help you:
- Ask your testers to perform a task on your site. I.e., contact me, buy a product.
- Make sure to add ‘Back to top’ links throughout your site if it has long pages.
- Make your links clear and easily visible; give them a bright colour, add underlines.
- Try your website in all available browsers.
Here is a guideline on how people read on the web provided by Jakob Nielsen.
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