The Seven Deadly Sins of Landing Page Usability
There are seven serious usability mistakes that most corporate websites commit. Interestly, these common errors are often products of sound principles that Web designers mistakenly apply:
1. Too Much Introductory Text on Your Landing Page
The worst kind of filler copy usually starts with, “Welcome to our site”, click on the blah, blah, etc. Telling people what to do on your site futile. The user will go where he or she feels like. People generally read very little on a website. Instead, users scan the page, picking out words that are relevant to them.
2. Not Showing What Your Site Offers to Users
Many sites are horrible at explicitly stating what they offer and how their services or products differ from those of their key competitors. Keep in mind that users will only spend a few seconds to scan teh site for what they need.
3. Using Gratuitous Animation and Graphics on a Site
The dirty secret among site owners is that they love to see cool animation and graphics, even though these don’t contain real content.
4. Not Showing Usrs Where They Have Been on Your Site
Knowing what pages have been visited is a basic function that all navigational designs should support. Flash sites are notorious for this basic omission. Only one-third of corporate sites use link color to show users at a glance where they have been. Without this basic browser function, the result is navigational confusion and users re-visiting the same page twice.
5. Not Telling Users What the Site Does on its Landing Page
One of the most popular links on a website is hte “About Us” link. Most people click to find out what the company does or what the site is all about. It’s popular because the tag lines and advertising copy are so generic and content-free that users have to work hard to find out who you are or what you sell.
6. Using a Heading to Label a Search Area
Sites that label a “Search” area with an information field, followed by a “Go!” button waste space with extraneous labeling. Like most search engines, your site’s internal search should have as few elements as possible to communicate its function.
7. Making a Home Page Link on the Home Page
You should never have a link that points to the current page. If the user clicks it, he or she wastes time and begins to question whether they really are on the home page or not. Disable or highlight the link of the page the user is currently on to avoid confusion.
