Usability and Conversions

What is Usability?

Simply a user-friendly Web site? A usable Web site provides the right information at the right time to satisfy the user's task.  In the end, it comes down to how easy it is for your visitors to find the information they need (i.e. products, services, support).

Why is Usability Important?

Usability goes back to the old adage, “the customer comes first.”  Serving the customer online has strong implications on brand and conversion rates and reverberates through all sales and marketing efforts on or offline.  In large part, the success of your Web site depends on it.

How Usability Improves Business

Web site usability affects three main areas of business: marketing, sales and operations.

• Brand Equity.  Marketing is significantly affected through the negative brand perception which occurs when a visitor becomes frustrated with a web site.   A negative web site experience can severely diminish the positive affects of even your best sales and marketing efforts. 
• Conversion Rate.  Sales departments usually feel the most dramatic impact of their Web site’s usability.  The single largest missed sales opportunity occurs when the prospective customer looking for your offering hits the “back button” and leaves the site.  No calls, no emails, no sales.
• Customer Support & Satisfaction.  Providing easy-to-find support information for customers will dramatically decrease support costs.  Today, the Internet is preferred over the phone, so your Web site inherently has a customer service element that is probably under-utilized.

Where to Start

Start with a Usability Audit, or what we call an Expert Review (heuristic in nature).  This will allow you to become educated on the best practices, learned conventions and minimum standards of Web site usability.  Additionally, the Expert Review benchmarks your site against your competitors and prioritizes any site changes or redesign efforts.