50 Tips To A User Friendly Website

- Clicking on the logo should take you to the home page;
- Your logo/site title should be positioned in the top left of the page;
- Duplicate your main navigational links in the page footer with links to additional, but less prominent pages;
- Keep your navigation positioning consistent from page to page;
5.Don’t open links in a new tab/window, except PDF’s and embedded documents;
Highlight your current location in your navigation bar;
Use reasonable sized fonts (12px or larger);
Make sure font sizes are flexible (Use em’s or %, not px);
Sans-serif fonts are easier to read at small sizes;
Serif fonts are easier to read at large sizes;
Center your layout on the screen;
Use a page width appropriate for your audience (Older people use lower resolutions, tech saavy people use higher resolutions);
Use whitespace to logically group related items on the page;
Use font sizes, colors and styles to prioritize content;
Use 1.4 or 1.5em line height;
Use line lengths of 45 – 60 characters, the same as a paperback book;
Link to related content within the context of your page content;
Make sure your links change color/style when visited;
Always underline links, except some navigational cases;
Do not make important parts of the website look like an advertisement;
Use pull quotes to highlight important content in a lengthy article;
Text should be concise and scannable;
Use dark gray text instead of black text on a white background;
Break long pages into multiple pages;
Do not use all uppercase words, word shape helps word recognition;
Divide text into sections and use sub headlines to make content more easily scanned;
Keep a consistent layout, colors and typography throughout the whole site;
Print friendly automatically with print stylesheets;
Use buttons to submit forms (Some images which look like buttons are ok);
Don’t disguise or over-style inputs;
Don’t redesign standard UI elements, like scrollbars (this means you, flash people!);
Use breadcrumb navigation for hierarchical content;
Search results page should reiterate the phrase you searched for;
Do call your homepage “home” – not “welcome,” “front page,” “your company name” or anything else;
Use short and easy to read URL’s;
Give links to other content on your site related to their current page;
Optimize images for fast downloading;
Publish new content regularly, don’t “set it and forget it;”
Test in all browsers and OS’s, and different versions – IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome;
Listen to your users and let them dictate changes (user centered design);
Avoid using jargon in page copy unless absolutely necessary;
Keep forms short, only ask for what you absolutely need;
Encourage conversation around your content. Comments, forums, etc…;
Include a text only sitemap;
Use the title attribute on links to add more context;
Never use “click here” as the text on a link;
Write in a inverted pyramid style;
Create friendly 404 pages which help people find content;
Create incentive to come back later;
Connect information via hyperlinks, don’t force navigational channels;

 

good info, I grabbed the list to check over my own site once it is finished. thanks!

 

thanks!!!! I'll keep it in mind

 

great !

just want to add,
browse another website regularly and use another website as a reference. If you want to make a eCommerce design, you should search in Google or another web-design community website and search reference from there.

 

There are a lot of stuffs I read here first hand. Great thing that I am informed on how to make a user friendly website as Im about to establish one right now.