According to Google, it only takes visitors 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about your website and decide whether they want to stick around or leave. This gives you about 1/10th of a second to engage, present your unique offerings, and persuade users to stay longer on the page.
Today’s consumers have expectations of how a website should look and function. The easier and more enjoyable your site is, the longer visitors will stay on your page and engage with your brand. Users will also be able to perform basic tasks and discover the information they need faster, making them more likely to return and do business with you.
In web design terms, the measure of a website’s potential to accomplish a user’s goals is called usability. A highly usable web design blends aesthetic and function. It ensures that you meet the site visitor’s needs and that they will have a positive experience with your site and, ultimately, your brand.
The core components of usability
Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, a consulting firm that specialises in research-based user experience, identifies five core components of usability:
- Learnability: How easy is it for first-time website visitors to complete basic tasks?
- Efficiency: Once users grow accustomed to the design, how fast can they accomplish tasks?
- Memorability: How easily can users regain proficiency after a period of not interacting with the design?
- Errors: What kind of mistakes do users make when interacting with the interface? How quickly can they recover from these mistakes?
- Satisfaction: How simple and pleasant is it to use the design?
Simply put, the goal of usability is to provide smooth user interactions and ensure as few disruptions as possible. If visitors can’t find the information they need or if your pages take forever to load, visitors will become frustrated and leave your site. Investing in usability helps you leave a fantastic impression on users who may be potential clients.
Why usability matters
1. It Establishes Credibility
From the visitor’s point of view, an engaging, attractive, and easy-to-use website conveys professionalism. A usable website will not only draw more visitors in but also keep you top-of-mind the next time they need products or services like yours.
2. It Aids Your SEO Strategy
Google rewards websites that deliver seamless user experiences. It looks at mobile-friendliness, content quality, site navigation, and other design elements that contribute to overall website usability.
In short, good usability scores result in higher search rankings which, in turn, attract more organic traffic and conversions.
3. It Builds Trust
All digital interactions involve a certain level of risk, which is why it’s crucial that your website signals trust. Broken links, error messages, and low-quality images can affect a visitor’s decision to engage with your brand. Lack of sufficient contact details or client testimonials can also draw users away from your site.
Making sure your website delivers on every aspect, from visuals to navigation, increases trust and impacts your bottom line.
Websites built for user experience
Overall, a user-centred web design increases user satisfaction and encourages leads to convert. However, usability is not achieved overnight. At Vaccoda, we build beautiful and user-friendly websites for businesses across industries. We also provide site maintenance to ensure your website is always running efficiently and securely!
Contact us now to discuss your website needs.
