By definition, usability in website design means the quality of an interaction that any user has with a site. It’s safe to say that the usability of a website depends on several factors but it hinges on users not requiring training in order to access pages on your site.
With that said, here are 3 usability errors that a web designer should avoid:
#1: Tiny clickable areas
Every website uses hyperlinks but if they’re too small, the user will struggle to click through these links. So, it’s vital to make the clickable area larger so as to make it easier for the user. Another way of doing this is by increasing the padding around the link as well.
#2: Abusing the pagination feature
Pagination usually divides a site’s layout into several pages so as to make the content easy to read. However, there are some sites that abuse pagination in order to get more views, and therefore, increase their advertising revenue. Yet there’s another downside to abusing pagination: SEO is impacted negatively as the content is diluted. Along with this, the search engine will not be able to determine what each of these pages are about, thus affecting their rankings.
#3: Unscannable Content
If you write copy that does not allow readers to scan through the text at your site, that affect usability negatively. Blame it on a surge of information that Internet bombards people with for this lack of patience when it comes to reading text at websites. This is also why it is important to make clear and concise points with descriptive headers in separate sections so as to draw their attention. Images and icons can add value to the text as well. All these factors will make the content more scannable and keep your readers at the site.