Effective Website Usability Testing Tips

Every serious digital marketer needs a website which serves as a products display window in cyberspace. It is not just enough to have a website. Such website must be accessible and usable. The reason it must be routinely tested for usability without which it may be ineffective to serve the digital marketing purpose for which it was set up. Here are a few tips to get it done.

Owner Testing

As the website owner, you must on your own test and satisfy yourself that your website can serve the purpose for which you set it up. There is no better alternative to conducting real-life testing for your website. It allows you to experience first-hand what your customers will experience when they come over. Owner testing gives you meaningful insights about your product, how it is displayed and how it is perceived by your website visitors. 


 
User Feedback
 
No other test stands better credibility than user feedback. It gives the website owner credible information about how the website helps customers to perceive and understand the product/service on display. The information is very useful because it is they who go through the website and experience what it offers. Listening to and evaluating their reviews helps provide the information needed to identify the blind spots which require urgent fixing or to be eliminated altogether as needed.

Simulate Real-Time Conditions

If you have experience in website usage, it is possible to simulate conditions which the site may encounter real time. With that, you can identify a number of real-world issues which your website will face on full deployment. Your duty is to incorporate as many of these issues as possible to determine how they impact user experience.

Discard Biases

For a site that is expected to serve many and varied people, it helps to set aside biases and settle for what will be universally acceptable. The reason you must embark on usability testing by proceeding without any kind of preconceived notions in your mind. Let users freely do their own thing on your site without you teleguiding them on how to interact with your website. It is the gap between their real experience and expected experience which provides the information needed in usability testing.

Insider Sessions

This is a way of allowing closely related others to weigh in on the testing. These insiders could be friends, relatives, staff and close acquaintances that were not part of the website development and have never even visited the website. The information from such persons particularly other staff helps to identify most of the issues regarding the workflow and any kind of conflicts and confusions which can hamper free use of the website.