I recently started looking at Usability and SEO ( Search engine optimisation) and looking at the link between the 2 and how they are related to each other.
It's difficult to imagine that some people do not seem to understand how important it is when designing a website or a landing page that it needs to be both optimised (so that it appears in search engine and is found by the intended audience) but that also that it is engaging and easy to use, so that people would return to it. ( which would enhance it's rankings etc).
Having a usable website, which works well, is easy to use, and offers users a good user experience can then enhance return visits, increase conversion rates and improve your company image.
The web analytics collected can then be used to understand how users interact with a website, and by using usability methods we can start to understand why they interact the way they do.
And usability testing does not have to be time consuming or expensive, testing with 6 users can help us find up to 80% of website issues, and using software which is available today ( at less than $50 such as silver back) we can easly and quickly conduct tests to try and capture how users interact with our website and then work on improving it to meet the users needs.
There are no more excuses for usability to not be introduced as part of the design process!
Remember to involve the user!
