SCORE Team Cville: Best Practices For Web

March 2010

Web Site Best Web Site Best PracticesPractices

Linda Kolker

March 2010

March 2010 2Best Practices for Your Web Site

We are creatures of habit, and rely on patterns

People learn how to use the sites they visit often

There a strong similarities among sites that make them easy to use

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People are comfortable with what they already know

Best Practices for Your Web SiteMarch 2010

Common courtesy

Good willConsidera

te of site visitors

4Best Practices for Your Web SiteMarch 2010

30 seconds to engage or lose

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“Don’t make me think!”--Steve Krug

Good for your business


March 2010 Best Practices for Your Web Site 6

Page Layout Convention

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Navigation Convention



http://www.thomasedison.org/main.htm

Communicates the purpose of your business and your site

Tag line that explicitly summarizes what the organization and/or site does

Value proposition clearly stated

Name and logo at top / in upper left corner

3/24/2009 11Best Practices for Your Web Site

Strategy

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Site Structure


Main navigation and local navigation

Both are available on every page

Deep navigation on home page

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Navigation


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Navigation links are underlined and in a different color

When you click on a link, you go to content that you expect to see

Navigation


Design

Home page is clearly different from other pages, but design is consistent throughout site

Looks like a recent site, rather than an old, out of date site

Name & logo are in upper left or across top, tagline at top

Site wide navigation across top

Local navigation down left or right side



http://accenture.com/

http://accenture.com/

Subheads

Bulleted lists

Highlighted keywords

Short paragraphs

The inverted pyramid

A simple writing style

De-fluffed language devoid of marketese.

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Content

--Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox


What is this web site about?

What is this organization about?

How do I find what I’m looking for?

What can I do next?

How can I get back to where I was?


Are you achieving your goals?

Is your site easier to use?

Are people spending more time on your site and returning more frequently?


Are you achieving your goals?

Is your site easier to use? User testing

Are people spending more time on your site and returning more frequently? Site usage statistics – site traffic logs


Don’t Make Me Think, Steve Krug

Jakob Nielsen: useit.com/alertbox, also numerous books

Usability.gov – covers many best practices for web site usability, with supporting research, (though site needs usability improvements)

Google Analytics: google.com/analytics


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