Web Site Tip of the Month
- June '07
This Month's Tip - Where Am I?
Do you ever find yourself on a web site wondering how you got to your current page? You clicked a link thinking it would take you to a page about "gadget A" and instead ended up at "widget B"? Or worse, you're trying to find "A" and end up circling through the same web pages and any attempts to get to where you were before let alone where you thought you were going are futile. At this point your options are to go back to the home page (if there's a link) or go somewhere else. I know which option I usually choose.
I have to ask myself, why do people do this? Why do they make their sites so hard to navigate? I started thinking about some practices I have seen:
Hide the Shopping Cart
Most sites have a button that takes you to the shopping cart. It usually has a picture of a shopping cart. Some sites like to get clever and make it a picture of something else. You get to guess what.
Hide the Navigation
This is one you see on a lot of fancy Flash sites. The cleverly disguised navigation menu. Why have a straightforward, usable menu when you can play hide & seek with your website's users. Let them search amoung the various pictures and see if it takes them to where the wanted to go. Don't lable those icons, the user will figure it out eventually.
You Can't Get There From Here
This one drives me crazy. Sites that make you drill down several layers to get to the page you want. Then, you have to go back through those pages to get to another section.
In Your Face Advertising
One thing I'm seeing more of is intrusive advertising. You click a link and before you get there, you have to look at an ad. On slow connection day, one site forced me to download a full-screen Flash ad before it would let me move on. I haven't been back to that site since.
Some Tips
Make your shopping process clear. The old shopping cart icon is not very exciting but it gets the job done. Avoid unneccessary steps and have clear instructions for making purchases. Don't mess with online sales by putting a barrier between you and your customer.
Keep your website navigation simple. Clever is more fun, and more creative and it has it's place. On an entertainment site where users go to play games and amuse themselves, an unusual navigation system that they have to figure out can add to the fun.
On the other hand, if people are coming to your site to get information and shop, make it as easy as possible. Keep navigation where users can find it and label those icons so they know exactly where to go.
Make sure your pages are easy to find. On a large site, users should be able to reach any department, from all pages, in one link. On a small site, users should be able to reach any page.
Be respectful with advertising. No one likes to be force fed.
The key is to keep things simple if you want your site to be usable. Clear direction, good unique content and respect for your users will get more repeat contact than a fancy, interesting but unusable site.
Remember, on the web, your web site is you
