Simply owning a website is not the end of the story. The necessity of online presence has no alternative, still, the features of a good website are retaining its pleasing and functional attributes. So, the website designing agencies follow the changes as directed by Google algorithm while designing the websites, keeping the need and essence of usability in mind.
Usability means the way the visitors are allowed to browse as well as interact with the different and vital components. Usability even refers to accessibility.
There are many audiences with physical and visual impairments, and if the buttons are tiny and unclear, then they will face difficulties in reading and clicking. So, with the main concern about your business firm being user-friendly, then you have to be familiar with the chief usability aspects to be further discussed.
In this discussion, we shall even bring up the effective methods, every web design agency use for testing for usability.
What is Meant by Usability Testing?
Usability testing is needed for testing a website for its functionality. Testing the website on the ones who did not create the design is crucial. This matter applies when the website is being tested for accessibility. The overall goal is to improve the user experience, that is UX. The new viewers of the designing team will be able to bring up the specific issues, else which would have remained unnoticed. Through the usability tests, the issues which are revealed are –
- Issues causing difficulties to site navigation
- Potential bugs likely to raise page abandonments
- Concerns like reloading and slow-loading elements
- Confusing or missing call to actions
Why Do Usability Testing Matter?
You might have to launch a first-time website, or get the existing one redesigned – your envisioned concept must be perfectly translated into the design. As the visitors should not be confused about how should they purchase or request additional information, so addressing the key usability aspects which include a mobile-friendly website or page load speed is important. These factors are a must to maintain so the upcoming Page Experience Algorithm of Google does not downrank your website. So, it is essential for user-friendly websites to be highly ranked for the business to be favoured with better revenue.
The Aspects to be Reviewed in Every Usability Tests
Every displayed content on the website must be available for review, still, some chief aspects must be prioritized in the usability tests –
1. Who, What, Why, Where, and How
It is essential for your website to clearly state the value proposition of your business, and why should your business matter to prospective customers. The landing page itself must state the core values of your business, and how should the customers directly buy through the site and request additional information.
2. Workflows and Navigation
The customers must navigate through your website easily. If they are willing to purchase or talk to a representative, then they have to filter through minimum pages, or do not filter at all for accessing a product or to get the call to action. The shopping cart and checkouts must be easy to find. The customers must never find it hard while taking a particular action, likewise, your website will provide your better value.
3. Designing Opportunities
The website heat maps tools identify the specific areas of a webpage in need of improvements. For instance, when the “contact us” or “request a quote” buttons are located much further down, and relevant contents are lacking, then the heat maps will point out the viewers will only be scrolling just two-thirds of the page. It explains why is the page not converting the leads as it should. For setting it alright, the designing team repositions the button to the area where the visitors can find the contact details quickly.
4. Simple Errors Like Grammar, Spelling, and Broken Links
Often the developers might overlook the minor errors, which include grammatical and spelling mistakes, as well as the broken links resulting in error pages. So fresh eyes are necessary for highlighting and correcting all these issues before the site is made live.
5. Responsive Designs
Nowadays, Google prioritizes the websites’ mobile versions other than the desktop versions. So, there will be a problem when navigating your mobile website is different from the desktop version. The usability tests help in highlighting the issues with mobile designs.
How To Implement the Usability Testing?
Usability testing could sound somewhat complicated, but in reality, it is not. Many online tools are available to point out the necessary edits. Other SEO professionals have to be consulted about the website to be double sure about user-friendliness.
Several usability studies are categorized into –
1. Moderated Usability Testing
The individuals navigating through the website are interacted with – it is done through the focus groups. With the help of this tool, the matters can be heard, checked in real-time about the matters working and not working.
When more persons are polled, then there will be substantial proof showing the components to be corrected. In most cases, it is possible to record the borrowing sessions through platforms such as Userlytics, which provides audio responses and screen sharing so, sharing feedback later is easier.
2. Unmoderated Usability Testing
The unmoderated testing needs the web designing company to enlist a focus group for navigating through the website and highlighting the issues, if any, it is experiencing. There are many cases, when unmoderated testing fully records the screens and audio responses of the respondents, so the discovered issues are better explained.
For a few developers, the unmoderated usability testing is ideal since the respondents have a tendency to interact with a website as they would be naturally compared to the moderated usability tests where the respondents are likely to be overly earnest.
3. Heat Maps
The heat map exactly indicates the areas where the visitors are giving their time while browsing a site and where they are stopping before exiting the site. Heat maps are categorized into “unmoderated usability testing” as the participants need not be interacted with directly to check out the struggling areas. The heat maps like the ones from Hotjar can be well implemented without involving the need to inviting the participants formally for reviewing the website.
4. Eye Tracking
Similar to the heat maps, recoding eye tracking can be done in an unmoderated testing ambience. By looking at the areas drawing the visitors’ eyes or they are not – helps the developers to optimize the very areas of the webpage lacking in attention or correcting design elements that are distracting. As eye tracking is not a feature that is always available in the testing platforms, a few brands make sure to include it.
A usability test is indeed prioritized for success. Navigating a website is difficult and it is not a secret. The pointed out issues can be corrected when attention and time are given for rectification in the design process.