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.

How Best to Test Your Website for Usability

As most digital marketers very well know, your website is your front office online. It is the best place to showcase and promote your goods/services to attract customers. To be able to perform that function effectively and efficiently, your website must be easily usable. So, it helps your business a great deal if you can routinely and regularly carry out usability testing on your website to be sure it does for your business what you expect it to do. Most importantly, it is extremely vital to go through various types of usability testing for your website even before you launch it. If its various functional aspects like speed and flow are unable to enhance user experience, your business suffers the consequence.


 
Here is what to test

Customer Experience

Every business is online to get customers. You can hardly get a good customer experience without easy usability of your website. If you have an in depth understanding of the needs of your customers, you can position your website to meet these needs. A good customer experience usually translates to good customers and good business.

Easy Accessibility

Web users are notoriously impatient. Getting hits on your website is directly related to how easily accessible it is. When users encounter a bit of difficulty in accessing your website, they quickly move on and your business suffers the consequence. Easy web accessibility allows people with a wide range of abilities to navigate and interact with your website without stress and that is good for your business.

Brand Positioning

Your brand is your business. If your website cannot position and promote your brand effectively, it does not help your business. Poor quality of usability of your website cannot help you to gain the trust of your customers easily. That is the trust which helps the growth and popularity of your brand and your business. Doing a few right and proper things on your website helps to ensure a highly optimized user experience which can promote the overall perception of your brand.

Customer Conversions

It is just not enough to get a lot of hits and visits to your website. What matters most is how many of such visitors end up becoming customers. The higher the conversion rate, the better for your business! Customer experience plays a great role in increased customer conversion rates the reason it is a credible test for your website usability.

Productive Systems

Very easy to deploy and use systems greatly enhance customers experience. What your website needs are systems which are very easy to use and can be updated using simple but effective methods. Such systems if in place are extremely valuable assets for your business because they greatly enhance the productivity of your website.