Designer Meetup » web

How Important is Website Usability

Jessica — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:42:33 +0000

by Kate Henlay

Usability on the Web is vital if you want to have customers continue to come back. A research has found that only 42% of Web users find what they require on any given Web page which leaves the remaining 58% still searching. This means that Usability of a website is central in order to get sales and make money. If your customers can’t find what they’re looking for, they won’t be purchasing, and odds are, they won’t be returning. It doesn’t matter how new and inventive your site is, the fact is cool doesn’t cut it.

Many people believe that graphics make the Web site more usable. Another group feels that they make sites unusable. Neither group is right. According to a study, the amount of images on a page has no perceptible effect on the collection of information, with two exceptions that include animation and download time. These are the findings that website designers should always keep in mind.

It’s also important for the website designers to know that when searching for information, users want information, not fancy, arty sites. A really common format for sites right now is called a “Shell Site”. These sites are where the navigation is developed and then the content is tossed into that format or shell. It is found that when a user is searching information, shell sites are very difficult to use. Because the links are the same on all navigation within the site, they don’t add anything new once they have been assessed. Therefore, when a user is searching information, the navigation shell is generally abandoned as an information source instantly.

If a user doesn’t click on the Search button, they are 50% more expected to get the information they are searching than if they do. This is alarming until you think about how most search engines control searches and results. A lot of sites have numerous different search engines for the Web site. These may be intuitive to the Web designer, but often the user doesn’t know what the difference is (or even recognize that there is a difference). Users don’t know what they will get when they search. They may be getting a list of pages on this site, the Web as a whole, a sub-set of this site, or something wholly different. Often the search results are apparently unrelated to what the reader searches on. There’s a perfect solution for this problem in the shape of web content . The web content will get people to your site and give them the information so they keep coming back. It’s also recommended to put lots of links on your site so that your readers can navigate as easily as possible. What is intuitive to you might be unclear to the user, so give your readers a lot of different ways to find to the information on your site.

About the Author

Kate Hanley is an expert on online media solutions, web development and search engine optimization in Dubai, UAE along with 360 online media solutions. He has vast experience of working in Dubai online solution providers market.

Easy and Creative Online Self Presentation

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:03:42 +0000

In an increasingly connected society, personal image management has moved beyond suits, ties or dresses and into the realm of complete identity control. With every online action recorded for future review by spouses, legal adversaries and potential employers, maintaining a comprehensively professional persona has never been more important.

Identity management starts with careful control of what information is released and through what channels. This control method, known by communication professionals as selective self presentation, is the easiest way to maintain your desired image in both the physical and virtual worlds. By carefully selecting which pictures, blog entries and forum posts are publicly released on the Internet, even someone who spends vast amounts of time online can successfully manage his online image and present a front of professional, intelligent refinement.

Some users simply can not, however, resist posting pictures of college parties, beach blowouts and other less-than-professional experiences. As social creatures, humans naturally want to bond through such outings and share memories with friends and loved ones. With some careful planning and creative use of pseudonyms, this objective can be achieved with only minimal—if any—impact to the fragile professional profile.

A major element in online identity management is careful and meaningful selection of a screen name. While some users take whatever randomly-assigned name is available, others integrate the online equivalent of a pen name into their daily life. A sales executive who happens to be passionate about dolphins, for example, may much prefer an online moniker such as SeaMammal. By subscribing to social networking and other online sites using this “handle,” the sales executive becomes one step removed from any searches on her name that a potential employer may conduct.

Name searching is, of course, not the only way to find someone on the Internet. In addition to a standard name search, many employers, clients and family members attempt to track down other ‘netizens using the unique online identifier on which people rely the most: an email address. For this reason, many users choose to maintain two separate email accounts: one personal account for staying in touch with friends and performing routine online tasks and one account reserved solely for professional communiqués.

When a user signs up for a new email address, she is generally asked to create a screen name for use on that host’s servers. A fun and easy to remember address such as SeaMammal@genericemailserver.com may be a great choice for the aforementioned sales executive, but a quick Internet search on the screen name or full email address may quickly link potential employers or clients to pictures and profiles best left undiscovered. For professional documents, such as cover letters and resumes, a more appropriate choice would simply use the individual’s given name in place of a screen name, rendering a more generic, professional and, likely, untainted email address of JaneDoe@genericemailserver.com.

With a little creative use of email accounts and screen names, online self presentation can be an excellent tool in the professional world.

Effective SEO & Web design

Jessica — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:53:45 +0000

by Raj Arora

Acquiring an online presence on the World Wide Web is one thing, but making sure that you have the right site design that is optimized for Search Engine Optimization process is another thing. Both design & SEO are of utmost importance; and businesses not following these are equivalent to living in stone ages. However what is even more difficult is to find a reliable and a trustworthy company who would be able to indulge in both and also show proficiency in it as well.

SEO Services Company India, specialize not only in Search Engine Optimization, but they are also leading competitors in website Designing as well. They have a team of professionals, who are aware of what they are doing and also ensure that things are done well and in the correct manner so that they are able to bear results for the customers. Now SEO is a far more difficult concept than what many people may interpret it as. It includes consistent statistical analysis and website betterment in order to be successful. The ultimate aim of a successful SEO is to put your website on the first page of the popular Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, & MSN. This is certainly harder than it sounds. It takes the efforts of very dedicated team of professionals to be geared to get the anticipated results; especially if the targeted keywords are in hot demand.

That is the reason SEO Company Delhi is totally focused on the idea of providing results to their client. They have a client centric approach where they want the results to be achieved, whereas at the same time all the efforts are taken to bring the clients’ business to the heights that they had been trying to achieve for long time. Another thing that is completely ignored by most of the businesses is their site design. Though it is true that the design becomes secondary to content in terms of online sales website; however, the first thing that gets noticed by prospective clients are the website designs.

So looks actually do matter. It is only when the site is visually appealing, can it stall the viewers attention for couple of minutes. If the magic happens in the first couple of minutes then the visitor can think of reading the content and trying to explore the website in depth. SEO Services Company India ensures that in addition to a good design perspective, they provide SEO services that enable the company to acquire top ranking so that they can facilitate the business and also make it grow…..as you had dreamt of!

About the Author

Web development India company providing professional web designing delhi SEO services Website designers ecommerce portal development, search engine optimization services India web designer Web Designing India website Development India.