For more traffic, make your site easier to use

A good web design and search engine optimization (SEO) are becoming more and more closely linked. Search engines like Google are taking a keen interest in how they are put into place, and what you can offer to their users.

Of course, design your site to be intuitive and easy to use should be a priority anyway, but this change even more emphasis on the benefits to be gained by ensuring that your site offers the best possible experience for users of the web. In the most basic level, offering visitors an engaging but easily navigable encouraging them to stay longer, return more often, and even share it with your friends.

What can you do to make your site easier to use?

Simplify navigatio

Buttons and menus are 'smart', or are easy to use? Navigating a website should leave the casual visitor in no doubt about what to click to get to the desired part of your website. Most importantly, your navigation menu should be the same on every page to avoid confusion. Small internal links at the end of the individual pieces of web content are useful to guide users to other content that interest them.

Remove clutter

Screens of computers have greatly improved in recent years but still can be a strain on the eye. By making your site as neat and clutter free as possible can help your visitors find what you want and keep clicking the back button because the design is hurting the eyes (or brain).

Improving load times

Not all web users have a super-duper, super-fast broadband connection. Using restrictions on the inclusion of graphics-intensive, so Java apps, you can ensure as many people as possible are able to experience your site the way I wanted. It is also worth remembering that the longer the user has to wait for your site to load, the more likely they are to click away, so minimize or even completely avoid the use of Flash, which can delay download speed to a crawl.

Break your content

Large chunks of unbroken text can be difficult to read on a computer screen, and are generally a no-no. Break your content through the use of relatively short paragraphs and subheadings.