Website design

Improving website usability is really important to maximise the enjoyment of the site for users. If you're unsure of what usability is then you can read more from the king of Usability Jacob Neilsen.

In short, good usability allows you to have a successful site by increasing its' effectiveness allowing the user a good experience and smooth interaction.

I was looking online for a pair of shoes the other day and came across a site that made me stick around just to see how annoying it was! It didn't take long to get my goat. As you will see I've got great taste ;)

http://www.pointerfootwear.com

This site has some great shoes to browse through but a number of usability issues that should be addressed.

5 Tips To Improve Website Usability

#1 - Alt Tags on Imagery

This being my first interview I wanted to make it a valuable one for my readers and clients. Many people I work and interact with are new business owners just starting out. On the flip side I also converse with long standing business owners but when it comes to the internet they both have a number of things in common.

A lack of knowledge about the latest technology and a little fear and trepidation of the unknown.

It's very easy to find information from experts about what you should do and where to start on a particular subject. But somewhere along the way problems occur and that's where the information dries up.

I'm hoping this interview will help those who have been through a business start up or website purchase and stumbled across problems plus those just starting on this journey.

I'm interviewing Sally Bolton owner of Country Couples, an online dating site for rural singles, who started her business just under a year ago. Along the way Sally ran into a few hurdles she managed to clear which she is going to share with us.

A website can be many things, e-commerce, brochure, directory, community based, but to be a success the design needs to be a-peel-ing (appealing!).

Appealing like a Satsuma, juicy, enriching, attractive, useable. Peel away that soft outer skin and you have handy little chunks of goodness. Very similar to the way a beautiful and well thought out design leads to easy access to great content.

On the other hand there's the Ugly fruits of this world, unattractive names for a start and then there's the look of them! What a shame as there's some nice stuff inside.

If you've got some great original content why hide it behind an ugly, hard-to-use layout?!

Here's just 10 sites I think are juicy Satsumas:

Apple