Is usability really an important factor in web design?

How important a consideration is usability in the development of a website? Both web designers and SEO specialists everywhere will tell you, nowadays, usability is as much an important consideration in the development of a website as the entire architecture of the web site itself.

A lot of website designers put a huge amount of work and attention to the entire look of the website, putting eye-catching elements such as complex animations, huge number of graphics, and large pictures. Others will pour their creativity into making otherworldly ways to navigate through the website, with emphasis on otherworldly because the navigation can get so creative that users will often get lost in navigation. These are just two examples of what goes on the website development if you don't consider website usability.

But then what is website usability?

Website usability is the characterized by the ease with which a user attributes to your website. It starts with the loading of the actual website itself. A recent study shows that an average user who happens to be interested in seeing your website will wait for at least 8 to 10 seconds for it to load before moving onto another website. If your website takes longer than 10 seconds to load, don't expect too many users to wait for it, as the internet has effectively conditioned most users everywhere not to wait too long for whatever page or site it is that they have called up for viewing.

Almost the same can be said of websites that have huge images in them. These large images, while effectively being eye-candy to many, can also make your website's loading time suffer significantly. This is the same issue that arises from having to much animation on your website. Flash animation tends to goggle up bandwidth as it is called up from the server, so that means a longer waiting time for users wanting to see your website.

Navigation is also a significant issue with web designing. While a creative way of getting around the site seems appealling in theory, users are more prone to follow a familiar way of getting to the pages they want to get to, hence, a familiar lay out, or at the very least, an easy to understand navigation is key to keeping users happy while they are on your site.

To optimize a website's usability, consider using less animation on your homepage and try using smaller images to display whatever pictures you may have on your website. An even better way is to have the web designer use thumbnails instead to show a small view of the image and then make a link to the larger image on a deeper page.

These are just a few items to considering a website's usability from the standpoint of a web designer. A lot more can be done to ensure that your website is usable enough to keep users coming back to your site to see more.

Rico Franco is an SEO Copywriter/Marketing Specialist specializing in optimized written content and marketing/advertising copy. He was awarded by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 2005 for Best Business/Feature story written, produced, and aired. He has had extensive experience in writing for various fields: 8 years in Journalism, 4 years in Advertising/PR, and 2 years in Online Marketing (SEO/SEM).