Re-evaluating Your Web Presence: by Steven Brightbill, Assistant Editor
Reducing Web Site Time Wasters
Make sure your site is free of barriers to quick access.
As might be expected, users' acceptance and comfort level at using Web sites
continue to increase. So have their usability expectations and habits. Users
want faster access, quicker download, ease of use, and immediacy in finding
information. If they encounter time-wasting obstacles, they tend to move on.
From a design point of view, that's a taller order than you might think.
Most Web site owners want to make a good visual impression and create a confidence-inspiring
look and feel. Then too, some Web designers want to devise an eye-appealing
and technologically sophisticated site to showcase their talents. At times,
owner preferences and designer self-interest may conflict with user expectations
and desires. Effective Web sites tend to strike a balance, yet lean heavily
on usability factors that reduce time wasting. Here are several suggestions:
- Avoid Flash presentations. Flash introductions or internal sequences
can be eye-catching and visually impressive. When used as an introduction,
they occupy the visitor's attention while the rest of the site downloads.
But nearly every Web site that uses a Flash introduction delays visitor
access to the information they want. Depending on the complexity of the
presentation and the type of modem being used, Flash presentations can be
an annoying obstruction. Countless thousands of excellent Web sites exist
without using Flash. You too can do quite nicely without it.
- Eliminate the "pre" home page. A cousin to Flash introductions
is the "pre" home page, something of an introductory visual teaser of what
follows. While not as common as a year or two ago, the "pre" home page seems
to serve as a branding mechanism to reinforce the site owner's visual identity.
The page, usually an attractively designed image-building graphic, seems
to advertise, "The following Web site is brought to you by…." While consuming
less time than Flash introductions, "pre" home pages nevertheless create
a barrier and require another click to get to the real home page.
- Minimize slow-loading, graphic-intense home pages. Faster modem
speed does not come with a license to build more graphic-intense pages.
Take time to learn the tips and techniques for building pages and graphics
that download more quickly. For example, smaller images comprised of several
solid and flat colors can often be saved in smaller size .gif format files
compared to larger, continuous tone photographs that take longer to download.
- Create multiple access points to minimize drill-down. Take a look
at your home page and count the number of links that take a visitor directly
to actual information on the first click. The more the better. Many Web
sites include scant few access points. Some sites even include menus that
direct users to sub-menus and eventually to other pages, a definite time-waster
to avoid. Visitors want immediate access to the information they seek. Organize
your information and devise a navigation scheme that delivers access with
the fewest number of clicks.
- Avoid long scrolling pages. While Web designers disagree about page
length, excessively long scrolling pages may cause a reader to become lost
and hinder access to specific information. There are a number of options
for enhancing access while avoiding long monotonous pages, including navigational
devices, text formatting and organization, editing, graphic enhancement,
and others.
When it's all said and done, you want your Web site visitors to feel satisfied
that they've found the information they came looking for. Removing time-wasting
obstacles enhances access and usability, two key ingredients in creating an
effective Web presence.
© Copyright 2002 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights
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