How Do You Improve Your Content’s Usability?

July 24, 2013

We say all the time that content is extremely important to your sites overall success, but did you know that your content has a major affect on your sites usability? When users look for something through a search engine they receive multiple sites in their results. One by one they will click through those sites until they have found what they are looking for.

Studies show that users will give a website 5 seconds before they move on to the next site. That means that you need to make sure that your content is in order and to the point so that a user could glance through it and within those 5 seconds and find what they are looking for. Your goal should be to stop the user on your site and keep them from moving on to another.

This is where usability comes in. You need to optimize your content so that the user can easily find what they are searching for without getting frustrated and leaving. In order to make your copy user friendly you need to do a few things. Use these three tips to turn your sites copy into well optimized, scannable content.

1. Focus on your Headings & Titles

One of the first things a user will see is the headings and titles of your blog and your posts. Make sure that you are making each one as descriptive as possible also getting straight to the point. This will help the reader know what they should be expecting if they continue to read, but not only will it help the ready, it also helps search engines when they crawl your site.

Once you have figured out your headings and titles, make sure you do something so that they stand out from the body copy. You can do this by making them bold, different font, a different size or even a different color. This will help the reader scan through your content and locate the information they are seeking.

2. Use Lists

A great way to break up your content and help the user through your site is by creating lists. It's a known fact readers enjoy looking at content that is in a list format, whether that is using numbers to rank something or just using bullet points to organize information.

Not only does the list help break up copy, it also helps to move the reader's eye downward with ease. Lists make it easy for a reader to scan through and pick out tid bits of information that they are looking for and are interest in.

3. Clear Links

If you are going to link your content to additional information you need to make sure that those links are clear to the user. Links that are displayed within body copy can easily get lost, so make sure you make them stand out by using bold text, underlining them, or using an alternate color.

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