Web designers today need to make their websites offer more than its worth to keep ahead of the online competition that is getting fierce day by day. Any website that is attractive and easy to use by its visitors ranks high in popularity. Therefore, the web designer has to keep the factor of usability on a priority when making a website. No visitor will stay at a great looking site that takes ages to open and with very poor navigation. He will simply move away. So, make sure the website is easily accessible to its visitors and hold their interest. They should be able to get what they want whenever they want.

Follow these useful tips to stay ahead of the competition and increase web traffic to your website.

Tip 1: Maintain Good Navigation

The first impression of your site on your potential visitor should be that the site is easy to navigate and has what he wants. List all the product categories clearly and make sure he can reach anywhere in the site from any page. He will just close the site in frustration if he gets lost and is not able to find what he wants.

Tip 2: Make Use Of A Tagline

Including a tagline is a good way of making a positive impression with the client. It puts across the mission and objective of the site or the company. In a way, he gets what the whole site is about in just one line and likes it.

Tip 3: Apply Site Search

Using site search is aver good idea to increase its usability. It gives the visitor complete freedom to explore what he wants and save his time. The user will always like this options and make more visits to the site.

Tip 4: Avoid Using Too Many Graphics And Flash

Anything that slows down your website will leave a negative impact with your visitor, Remember you have only a couple of seconds to make contact with them and leave a positive impression. So use animations and graphics only where they are necessary.

Tip 5: Always Use Site Map

Site maps are a great way to improve the usability of the website. Just a glance at the site map gives the visitor a summary of the whole site. He can view the architecture of the website and understands the hierarchy working behind.

Tip 6: Place Useful Content

Keep in mind that most of the website surfers are not just there for entertainment. Many of them are looking for important information. So place good informative content and keep updates it regularly so your visitors have fresh information. Use the right font size and colors to increase readability.

Tip 7: Give Feedback That Is Meaningful

Keep a communication channel open between you and your visitors. Get feedback and leave comments so as to let the visitor know what is going on. Write meaningful error messages in case there is an error with your website.

All the above may seem casual tips to many. But remember that it is these small details that increase the usability of a website and make it great.