1. Have your most important content above the fold.
The fold is everything you can see above the bottom of your screen. Content that is located “above the fold” will be seen by your visitors without scrolling down, and will be seen before other content on your page. This will draw in the readers attention, and is an opportunity to present your best content first.
2. Your content should quickly grad reader’s attention.
You have only a few seconds (10 to 20) to grab people’s attention before they will move on to another site. If you want people to stay on your site once they arrive, make sure that every one of your pages has something interesting and offer it above the fold.
3. Take time to test your website in different browser windows to see how it looks.
You want to make sure that your site visitors’ experience is the same whether they are using Windows Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other browser. Knowing that your website looks good no matter what browser somebody is using is an important aspect of website usability testing. It is also a good idea to test out how your site looks across mobile browsers, as the percentage of mobile visitors on your site will often increase over time.
4. Include a custom 404-error page on your site.
This way you can ensure that if somebody mistypes the extension on your URL when looking for a page, they will at least still wind up at your site and you can redirect them from there.
5. Make sure that your layout and colors are consistent throughout your entire website.
You do not want somebody thinking that they have left your website because all of the sudden one of the pages does not seem to match where they just came from. Going from one page to another through your website should be an easy transition. In order to make your website visitors feel more comfortable, consistency on your website is imperative.
If you follow the tips above, you will catch some quick and easy design changes you can make to give your website visitors a better experience. After you have incorporated these tips and have a well thought out prototype design, you should gather feedback from your customers and conduct user testing or usability testing for best results.
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