How usable is your Web site?  It is important to have a good looking site, but it is more important to have a usable one.  If your customers visit your Web site and cannot accomplish what they came to accomplish, they may not return to your site.  I have compiled what I believe to be the top 5 guidelines to a more usable site.

1.    Navigation should have consistent placement and should be predictable in nature.  You do not want your users guessing how the navigation works or where it might show up on different pages.   Users need the navigation to browse the site, so you want them to be able to do so easily.  Typically the navigation is located along the top of the page or in a column on the left side of the page.

2.    Recognizable Links need to be easily and quickly recognized.  Designate one color for links that will stand out from the rest of the layout colors.  Underlining links is an easy way to make links stand out and is widely understood.  It is also good practice to have the link color change once the link has been used.  This makes it easier for the user to know if they have already visited a page which reduces wasted time on your site.

3.    Error Messages should help the user resolve the error quickly.  The error message should tell the user exactly what needs to be fixed to continue.  Try and keep all error messages in the same location on all pages so the user does not have to search for the error.  The message should also stand out from the rest of the layout.  Red is the color that is most often used for error text.

4.    Forms should only include information that is necessary.  Users do not want to fill out a bunch of unnecessary information.  If you want to have some optional fields, group them together and place them at the end of the form.  Let the user know this is optional so they can skip it if they want.  It is also good practice to group similar fields together.  This makes the form easier to understand.  Required fields should be marked and there should be a legend telling the user what that mark means.

5.    Easily Scan-able Pages are the most user-friendly.  Users do not want to spend a lot of time reading large blocks of text.  It is best to have smaller blocks of text that can be scanned to find the information the user is looking for.  Using this technique, you can also use white space to draw attention to key information on a page.

If you keep these guidelines in mind when creating a site, they should help make your site more user-friendly.  Usability cannot be summed up in just five simple steps, but these are some good guidelines to start with to point you in the right direction.