Chapter 1 - Preface and Introduction
I. Who Should Read This Book?You should read this book if you are interested in the impact of accelerating technological change on the current paradigm of Web design, search engine optimization and Web usability. This is a brief examination of many facets of Web usability, search engine optimization and the effect of technological change on our modern understanding of how the Internet works and is perceived. The convergence of Web usability and search engine optimization implies that many of the common tools we use to find information currently on the Internet might soon become obsolete. This nexus between SEO and Web usability has wide ranging implications on how we will use and operate the Internet in the near future. Read this book to understand the implications of these changes, and also to learn more about how the current standards of Web usability and search engine optimization can help create the data sharing infrastructure for today’s user and those of future generations.
You should read this book if you are contributing to the information of the Web. It is important to understand how users find your Web site and how they use them. This book will show you how to properly construct both your Web site and Web Presence for maximum usability for casual Web users, those with special needs, and the search engine agents (Example: Google Spider) creating the search tools that have made accessing information on the internet so easy.
Those individuals who put information on the Internet in any form will benefit from reading this book. Whether you are an E-Commerce business or promote services from your Web site, understanding the convergence between Web usability and SEO is imperative. If you are a Web designer, programmer, database developer or search marketing specialist, this book will teach you what comprises Web usability, and how it has evolved to include search engine optimization. It will also educate you on how search engine spider’s view and rank your pages.
II. Why I Wrote This Book
Upon my discovering of the Internet in the late nineties, I have used the Web as a tool for information. Web sites are no longer simply a set of files on a server, but now comprise a growing library of the dreams, hopes and fears of our culture in our time. Web usability and search engine optimization are now converging to become the most important means of obtaining information for our entire civilization. This book was created to help Web designers, database developers and average people understand how the acceleration of technological change will affect them and also highlight the importance of developing data in a format that is readable to both human users and programming technologies such as the search engine spider.
As a tool to connect business, people and services, the Web derives its success from its ability to convey the information people need very quickly and effectively. Because of this growing ease and our increased interconnectedness on the Web, using the Internet is becoming a mundane and routine task in our lives. People do not want to have to fight to find the information they want on your Web site, just like they do not want to have to fight to find your Website with the information they want on it. With the Web growing at an exponential rate and the acceleration of technological advances occurring in the computer sciences community, developing a Web site that complies with usability standards and is also highly visible, is essential for any Web designer, SEO company, Programmer, Blogger or Database Developer to understand.
If you are trying to have users of your Web site accomplish something, understanding Web usability is essential. Usability in many ways is changing as the Web expands and develops. Standards on Web usability in the past have lacked any real focus on search engine optimization; this needs to change. In order for a Web designer or developer to create a site that receives high amounts of traffic: they must now understand search engine optimization and Web usability. It is no longer just the human element of Web usability involved in the equation, but also software search engine agents or "spiders" must be involved in any Web usability study.
In order to understand the full scope of how usable your Web site is, one must pay attention to everything from the Meta description of each page, to how people find the Web site, to the amount of code versus content. Usability is no longer just a study of how people use your Web site, but it has evolved to include how people find your Web site and how software search engine agents read and rank your pages. We can all agree that you can have a perfectly usable Web site, but if that Web site has design flaws or content flaws that make it unusable by search engine agents; then no one will be finding it! The acceleration of change in the field of information technology, as implied at the end of this book, will also have a profound impact on which data is ranked and found. It is in this spirit that this book has been conceived. If you have a Web site that you want people to know how to use, this book tries to shine a light on the growing confluence between the two fields of study: Web usability and search engine optimization.
III. Why Web Usability and Visibility are so Important
It should now be the goal of all who are publishing data onto the Internet to provide information that is usable and accessible to both human and machine intelligence based software. As time continues to march forward and the exponentially growing information technologies provide us with more data and processing power, we might begin to find that the Web is accessed less by human articulation and more by artificial intelligence in the way of software programs from within our computers. If one wishes to achieve the act of passing on important information over the Web, they must now consider Web usability, search engine optimization, accessibility for special needs, and intelligent software systems. The importance of understanding these concepts is underscored by the fact that if your site is unreadable to humans because of rendering issues and also unreadable to search engines because of design flaws; no one human or machine will ever find and catalogue your Web site.
Improving usability and visibility online will improve the experience of those users seeking information and therefore create progress in our society as a whole. (The combined task of providing good information and making it visible to those who need it will continue our journey towards a better world.) The work and information we compile now will be used to create the next generation of discoveries and inventions. While it might not be clear how improving the usability and visibility of an E-Commerce site may make a better world, one must consider that it has never been the technology itself that has made the progress experienced by humankind, it is the individuals involved in the process of finding information that have always made progress happen. This collective need for knowledge is the fundamental building block of our entire civilization. As designers of this information super network, it is important that we realize that no matter what content we generate: problems with usability or visibility can potentially lead to the slowing of progress for everyone.
Chapter 2 - What is Web Usability?
Below begins the section on what Web usability is, and how it is evolving over time.I. Web Usability Evolves
Web Usability is how easy a Web site is to locate, use, comprehend and get catalogued by humans and artificial intelligence systems like search engines software agents.
The quality attribute of usability is ease of use. How easily something is remembered as well as the speed at which people or programs can learn to utilize or repeat something, is important when assessing how usable something is for the user. Another important aspect of usability is how much people like a Web site and how often they use it again and again. Something with a high degree of usability would be effortless and speedy to operate, repeat, and also entice the user to come back.
Web site usability has evolved since the dawn of the Internet age. The advent of search engines, faster processors, increased sophistication of Web users, and the deployment of broadband are redefining usability. In the early days of the Web with dial up the norm, most users accessed bland looking HTML pages with slow to load images and limited multimedia. What we have found as Web usability evolves is that the same basic principles of human behavior formed during those early days of the Internet, still play true in many ways today. Today, just as it did back then, having design structures revolve around navigation, written content, and placement, can have a dramatic impact on whether a Web user can find the information they are looking for. What has been changing is that users are becoming more sophisticated, internet connections are becoming faster, and multimedia is now becoming commonplace.
Due to the increased competition and exponential growth of new Web pages, Web usability is expanding its role into the realm of search engine optimization or (SEO). In terms of SEO, usability not only has to do with how human users find your Website or information online, but also has to do with how search engines agent’s (Google Spiders) rank and read your sites code and content.
Ask yourself the following basic questions when designing a Web site for usability:
• Is my web site visible and usable to both human visitors and search engine spiders?
• Do both people and search engines know exactly what each page of my web site is about?
• Do I have a method, such as an XML interface, to describe to search engines the information contained in any flash or multimedia used on a Web page?
• Is the code used to display my content validated and have I minimized code by maintaining a cohesive site structure?
• Is the Web site incorporating features to help those with special needs access the content?
• Does my site load quickly?
• Do I have my call to action prominently displayed and exactly what I want a user to do or read immediately available?
• Does my call to action appear in my META description tag so that users reviewing the search engine results page can easily deduce the information contained on my Web page?
• Does my Web site do what is expected of it?
• Is my site easy to navigate by people and search engine agents with a consistent navigation system that uses terms people expect?
A. Evolution of the Web User
The growing importance of search in the retrieval of information from the Internet means that you should be treating usability in terms of both human and non-human visitors. In many ways, it is now just as important that search engines can accurately catalogue your Web site as it is that an actual human user can use your Web site and find the information they require. Having content that is rich and easy to comprehend is important online, but so is the use of specific keywords that individuals most often use when searching for specific information. In order to prevent a human or a search spider from leaving a page prematurely you must always use good code that conforms to specific Web standards set out by the World Wide Web Consortium. Without good code, the spider might get lost, or worse, your human user might see a poorly rendered page in their browser. Either inference showcases the increased interconnectedness of Web usability and SEO.
Web users are not often very tolerant of poor design and vague content. According to Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger’s 2005 book “Prioritizing Web Usability”, their average test user looking for something specific spent about one minute and forty nine seconds visiting a Web site before leaving the site never to return again. The average user went to about 3 Web sites from the search engines they observed. Nielsen and Loranger reported that you only have a 12% probability that the user will return once they have left your page [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 27)]. These findings highlight that having a Web site that is easy to use and understand is imperative. Web users are growing more experienced and more fickle as time moves forward. You must clearly state the meaning of a page and design it in a way that they expect. Design for the fact you have an average of less than two minutes for a user to stay on your Web site.
B. Optimizing Web User Experience
Every individual page on a Web site, or for that matter, any resource should be optimized for only one to three keywords. This will prevent confusion for both the visiting human and search engine agent. The individual user scanning the search results can become confused if the title and description of a page are too vague as to what is contained on the page. In a similar way, if the content is empty on the page and does not focus in on the subject at hand, individual users will have little use for it and hit the back button. It is also important to remember that search engine agents are simply software programs that rank and place pages based on constantly changing algorithms. (One can imagine that these program’s algorithms are based on concrete facts about a Web page such as title, description, content, links and so forth.) Would it not be wise to assume that these software search engine agents are better able to place a page that has focused on one subject matter? For this reason, and for the purpose of delivering the content, people and search engine agents need to see questions answered and to find the services they need. It is important in terms of Web usability and SEO that a Web site’s individual pages have focused content easy to read by search engines and human visitors.
When it comes to designing for the modern user of your Web site, human or program, you must consider that your home page, while visited most often, is most likely not where the individual is going to find the majority of the information they need to learn. The vast majority of the average Web site comprises hundreds of pages, and thus we can assume most users will be entering the site from one of those deeper pages with more specific information. Evidence from the study conducted by Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Laranger in “Prioritizing Web Usability” suggests that the average Web user actually spends around 25-35 seconds on a home page depending on Web user’s experience. The more experienced the Web user, the less time they spent on the Home page. [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 30)] Another interesting finding of the study was that 60% of all entrances by Web users occurred off the home page and on the more subject specific pages. From these two inferences we can assume, that in all reality, you should be spending more time tailoring the content on the secondary and tertiary pages due to the fact users are more subject specific when they search. Often users won’t even give more than a glance to your home page. It is this reason that one will want to make a prominent call to action or something the user wants to accomplish very apparent on the home page. One does not want to lose the potential customer because they don’t know what to do when they get there. Vacuous content and experimental design are the most likely cause for a Web site to become lost in the vastness of the Internet.
II. Taming the Informavore
The theory of Information Foraging was developed in 1993 by the Palo Alto Research Center. This has become one of the most important concepts in Web usability and human-computer interaction to develop in the past few decades. Intertwining the theories involved with Anthropology and Information gathering led the team of researchers to explain that users searching for information on the Internet are not much different than untamed beasts wandering in the wilderness. Humans they explained are "informavores" by nature and seek out new information. When allowed to roam free on the Web, predictability is thrown out the window, and a beast is unleashed onto the world, seeking out the information it wants by any means necessary. Just as animals learn and adapt to their environment, highly intricate search patterns are developing and decisions are being made based on experience. This is eye opening in many ways, as it points to an evolution of Web habits overtime, and displays how we access information will always change as faster ways become available. Information Foraging Theory has helped us improve our ability to understand human and computer interactions beyond measure.
In order to tame one of these wild beasts, it is important to develop an interface where getting the information does not cost more than the benefit gained. In the book titled "Information Foraging" by Peter Pirolli and Stuart K. Card, they make the following statement that explains usability very well in terms of information foraging:
"The structure of the interface between people and information repositories in the external world determines the time costs, resource costs, and opportunity costs of different information foraging and sense making strategies. Such costs include access, recognition, and handling costs, which can be weighed against the rate at which useful information is delivered to an embedding task." [Pirolli, Peter and Stuart K. Card. Information Foraging, http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/280/uir-1999-05-pirolli.pdf (January 1999) (p. 4)]
This implies that those seeking information on the Internet will stay on a Web page not only based on the content, but the opportunity costs involved with reading and accessing the content. In terms of navigation on a Web site, this implies that if your site only uses search, and your user prefers a navigation bar, they might just simply leave your Web page after assessing that they could not access the information in the manner they preferred. Taming these rogue Internet surfers will depend on how useful your information is, the ease of access, and the handling costs involved.
A. The Scent of the Hunt
When on the hunt, a ravenous user of the Web may notice distinct clues such as your description tag in the search engine results, or an icon that represents something familiar with the subject. These intermediary pages were referred to as "residue" by Furnas in 1997, and are some of the basis for one of the most famous concepts brought forth by the Information Foraging Theory:
"Information scent is the (imperfect) perception of the value, cost, or access path of information sources obtained from proximal cues, such as bibliographic citations, WWW links, or icons representing the sources." [Pirolli, Peter and Stuart K. Card. Information Foraging, http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/280/uir-1999-05-pirolli.pdf (January 1999) (p. 10)]
Just like a hunter, one would consider the best options for finding the information. Is it worth going through the hassle of looking through a massive database site that is difficult to use if all the user is looking for is one specific item. Just as a hunter would judge whether it would be easier to hunt the small prey or large prey, an informavore will do a cost benefit analysis based on the importance of the information they are looking for, how much time they have, and whether the information scent seems to be right. If when a user clicks on a page they are confronted by a barrage of pop ups and banner ads, you can bet that the costs of getting the information increase. In this way it is best to prepare for an informavore by presenting the information in a clear format with the main points above the fold of the page to let the user know what the remainder of the page is about. Having a proper and pertinent title, images, icons, domain, and description tag are essential to create the information scent needed to attract the informavores, and it is essential to present the information in an easy to follow fashion that does not cause much of the access value costs to increase.
B. Information Profits
"The profitability of an information source may be defined as the value of information gained per unit cost of processing the source." [Pirolli, Peter and Stuart K. Card. Information Foraging, http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/280/uir-1999-05-pirolli.pdf (January 1999) (p. 11)]
The statement above made in the book, "Information Foraging" points to a clear correlation with usability and information gathering. Reality points out that no matter what interface, the very fact some apparatus must be used to access the information, automatically means that there is a barrier to the information. Thus designing a usable interface should be the top priority for any organization attempting to become a beacon to informavores. It must be noted that designing subject specific pages with clear descriptions that read well in search results is key as to gathering these beasts of the wild Web. This is important because the search engines themselves are being made more complicated with ads, maps listings and more, leading to increases in the overall cost of access. With all the barriers we have erected for ourselves to access the information we need, it is a wonder why we have not yet developed software to do it for us. Until that threshold has been reached, it is important to focus a lot of attention onto usability of your information resources. Taming an informavore is based on providing the information they want and in an interface that is simple to use. Barriers that increase the overall cost of finding the information will lessen the chance that a Web user will get what they need from your Web site or that they will ever return again.
III. Understanding Design Conventions, Usability Guidelines, and SEO
Understanding the design conventions, usability guidelines, and search engine optimization are important for success on the worldwide Web. Below is a list of important things all those contributing to the Web should consider before publishing:
1. Develop Web site features people expect. (Example: Contact page)
2. Place call to action above all else.
3. Avoid flashy site elements that detract from the call to action.
4. Check your Web site across all browsers.
5. Avoid making your user think too much about operating any one element on the site.
6. Create accurate titles and descriptions of each Web page.
7. If you are using a dynamic presentation element not read by search engines, use an XML interface to feed the spiders the information.
8. Put the best content in the top position.
9. Get your Web sites message out in less than 25 seconds.
10. Unless you are a major brand, try not to deviate from the norms of design.
Web users expect certain elements to always be present in a Web site. Trying to create guidelines or standards for the designers of Websites is difficult because the community is so fractured, spread out, and also full of self proclaimed "artists" who will have nothing impede the artworks they create. None the less, the majority of Web sites do follow similar designs, thus the majority of Web users expect certain items to always be present on a Web page.
When you only have 25 seconds or less to get out your main value proposition to a potential customer you do not need them having difficulty figuring out how to work the art project Web site your Web designer just created. Remember the informavore is a wild beast, and will not waste time trying to figure out how to work your navigation system. Just as in the wild, the goal is to get the most with the least effort. Creating some new interface that looks flashy but is not delivering what is expected, will lead to users clicking the ‘back’ button. In a similar light, if the search engine spiders can’t read the dynamic page element created, you get no real benefit in terms of visibility. Creating art for art’s sake is one thing, but if you are trying to run a business, one should always present page elements that are common throughout the Web such as always referring to the home page as home. These simple protocols might not seem important, but violating them can increase access costs for users and inevitably lead to lost sales and missed opportunities.
Web usability guidelines have been developed over the years, and a vast majority of Web pages conform to a similar design. One of the most important guidelines is not making your potential customer think too much about how to find the information they want. Presenting the call to action front and center will generally help the person find their way. When Web users read the search engine results pages, they often read the description of each Web site before clicking on it. In this way, another important guideline is to have subject specific META description tags as well as titles to help direct those seeking the information in a list of search results. This is just as important as making sure that all the links and features work on your Web site. Users who find items that don’t work, or features that do something unexpected, will generally leave the Web site and never return. Search spiders in a similar fashion will record the glitch and most likely move on quickly. Most important of all in many ways is not to take up a user’s time by making them figure out some sort of complex navigation system or feature. Present the content and information needed to make the lead work for you very quickly because you just don’t have time to waste.
A. King Content, Time, Complexity and Placement
Above all else, content is king when it comes to usability and search engine optimization. It has been found that despite awkward advertisements, if the content is good enough, people seem to live with it, and work it out. One should always plan on development of good content above all else when it comes to usability. Without the information people are looking for they will not stay or come back. That aside, one still does not want to present anything unexpected to the Web user, as it increases the access cost and the learning curve of using your Web site for a product or service. Designing good content that is well placed so that the user does not have to think much is extremely important to both SEO and Web usability. Without the site having quality content that is well placed, learning curves will go up, and the likelihood of losing the sale will also go up. From the usability studies done in Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger’s book “Prioritizing Web Usability” they found that Web users most likely did the following:
"1. Go to a search engine and type in two to three words
2. Look at the top few listings on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
3. Visit some of these sites but leave after less than two minutes if they don’t seem sufficiently useful
4. View most site pages for less than half a minute" [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 48)]
From these findings we can assume that if one were to have a Web site that complicates the user experience by presenting flashy new designs, they might actually lose customers. Deviating from the norm is not recommended because it will often override the user experience. The user could end up leaving the before one has even had a chance to present the call to action. Calling one’s services page something totally odd for instance, could possibly lead to a lost sale because of the unexpected nature of whatever one called the services page. One wants to make sure that one’s user knows how to interact with each design element you present. If something doesn’t work right, it can have disastrous consequences. Often users will even bypass non-standard Web elements and could potentially miss your call to action. The bottom line is that you want to have non-invasive and standard Web elements on your Web site that do what they are expected to do, and at the same time provide the content or information that they want all within a matter of a minute upon viewing a page.
When considering a flashy new interface, it is also important to consider how the search engine agent will be able to access the content contained with it. If you intend on your products being visible on the Web, you must ensure they know how to read the information contained within. Often for something like flash, an XML interface can be designed to feed the content out to the search engine agents. Even so, flashy new designs often do not play out well in usability studies, and standard design elements, such as a contact us page, should always be present.
B. Guidelines Are Not Laws
Web usability guidelines are by no means correct in all inferences. Because of the complexity and wide ranging possibilities presented by marketing and the Web, it might be alright to deviate from the norm in some instances. Some mega brands can get away with violating guidelines because they sell something which only they have, or at that price. If you are a huge brand, or are working for a huge brand it is possible to take some liberty with the guidelines, but they generally stand true for everyone else.
Here is a review of a few of the main Web usability guidelines:
1. Create Web site features that people expect. (Example: Navigation Bar)
2. Have your call to action placed where the user will look right away.
3. Do not create overly flashy Web elements that take away from the call to action.
4. Make sure your Web features work and across main browser types.
5. Don’t make your user think about how to operate any feature on your site.
6. Present page descriptions and titles that read well in search engine results pages.
7. Develop XML interfaces to present any dynamic Web features not visible to search engines.
8. Maximize good content and place it on top.
9. Be able to get your message out in less than 25 seconds.
10. Don’t deviate from the norms of design, unless you’re dealing with a major brand.
These are not laws, but are guidelines on building a Website that passes basic usability tests. The best thing you can do is test your site with independent users. Web site developers are not good candidates to test your Website. You should test your Web design on an independent group of people from all skill levels. Many Web developers might be astonished by what seems to impede users. Regardless of the usability guidelines you should always test your site. The only sure bet is to see the independent thought of your potential customer base in action. Creating a usability study does not need to be costly or expensive, sometimes even testing it on a tech impaired friend might give you some insight into how people are using your Web site.
Chapter 3 - Designing Mindful of Web Usability and Search Engine Optimization
It is extremely important to always be mindful of Web usability and search engine optimization when designing for the Web.I. Thirteen Things Not to Do
Certain technologies, elements and techniques are unusable for both humans and search engine agents. These elements of modern Web design repeatedly report problems in usability studies. Advances in broadband technology and advances in computer processing power have at this time not solved these usability problems. These thirteen things listed below are to be avoided at all costs unless absolutely necessary.
1. Links that have no action or color change
2. Never open new browser windows (Exception: PDF documents)
3. Never Have Pop-Up Windows, Sound Effects, or floating Ads – (EVER!)
4. Don’t break the back button
5. Design elements that look like advertisements
6. Vague content and double speak
7. Never ending text
8. Flash or Java script without XHTML or XML counterpart interface
9. No keywords in title or description
10. Have no call to action
11. Experimental navigation system
12. Frames
13. Flash Intro and Splash Pages
A. Pop-Ups, Design Elements like Advertisements and New Browser Windows
Having any of the following features on your site will make you very unlucky, as is hopefully shown by the clever use of the number thirteen at the beginning of this section.
I. Pop-Up Windows
Pop-up windows deserve first mention because they are the most hated technology currently used online. Whether it is a search engine agent, or a human user, these things just simply are unusable in many circumstances. Many designers will argue that this is just not true, but according to numerous studies conducted by Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger in the area of usability, pop-ups are very much impeding usability. In the case of pop-ups, they make the assertion that "Many users close pop-ups as fast as possible-often even before the content has been rendered. The fact that it is a pop-up is reason enough to want it gone and fast" [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 74)].
II. New Browser Windows
Designer’s claim that by creating a new browser window it helps them keep prospects from leaving their site. This has been proven not to be the case in numerous usability studies. The fact is that by creating a new browser window, the user can no longer access the back button, and the chain of information is broken. Modern Web users realize the power and importance of the back button, and therefore, breaking that sequence can cause irrevocable harm to the overall user experience.
III. Advertisement Like Design Elements
Having design elements that resemble advertisements can lead to lost customers, because Web users have learned to grow an aversion to anything that flashes or tries to grab their attention to much. It appears the users of the Web have grown a sort of ‘advertisement blindness’ because of the barrage of pop-up ads in the earlier days of the Internet. The useful parts of the Web sites have been deemed to be the sections with the text and writing, while colorful boxes or flash are often filtered out by the Web user. Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger in, "Prioritizing Web Usability", call this subconscious avoidance of colorful advertisements "Banner Blindness". In a few instances they even witnessed individuals not able to find the buy now button on an e-commerce site because it was to bold and colorful. Once the flashy design element has been avoided by the Web user, they will not ever know what they missed because they will not even know they missed anything. [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 76)] It is clear from this information that having design elements that are too flashy, or colorful will lead to lost information transference. People with "banner blindness" will not ever see what is in your colorful display, and often miss the whole point of the Web site altogether. Web usability studies definitely suggest that you should make the heart of your site in the content, and not focus on how colorful you can make it.
B. Breaking the Back Button
Another example of one of the worst design flaws is attempting to break the back button for the user, and forcing them to use some sort of creative navigation system. Making your user think to use something, and then trapping them to use it will most likely end in a closed window. Regardless of navigation, many people’s first inclination is to use the back button because it is so dependable. Browser based searching must never be impeded by a Web element that blocks the back button, it just isn’t right. There are special java commands that will eliminate the back button from the browser altogether. Using these commands might seem like a good idea to an experienced java programmer, but might be impossible to use for some random first time Internet user. The back button is and always should be sustained, and allowed, no matter how important you think your Web site is.
Some Web designers think it is fine to have eight potential opened windows on their computer screen. Many users on the Web will not tolerate such a barrage of opened windows, and you risk losing your potential customer with every new opened window. When the user sees the content they need on the new window, they often forget the other window is even open and therefore, when they do see it again, it will most likely be to close it out altogether. Breaking the cycle of the back button with pop-ups, new windows, fancy navigation and Java, hinders the overall usability of the Web, and should never be done, no matter what.
C. Links with No Action or Color Change and Strange Navigation
One of the most basic concepts in Web usability has been to have links change color if they are links, and to remain changed if you travel elsewhere on the site. Image navigation must also have some type of change as well just as a hyperlink would. Action is needed in order to persuade some users that the image is a link. Having an image based navigation system is ok, as long as the image shifts position during a hover. This is something that seems pretty basic, but is a mistake that many designers make which leads to usability issues.
Having strange navigation systems that are experimental in nature are confusing and go against the Web usability recommendation not to make your user think. Even when a design might seem fantastic and self intuitive to the designer, it may be next to impossible for someone with limited computer experience to use it. Complex navigation causes the learning curve of your Web site to increase and will encourage the likelihood a customer will hit the back button and never return again. In a similar way, search engine agents can become lost and confused by graphic navigation systems. When designing it is important to keep in mind that you do not want the learning curve of your navigation system to be high.
D. Call to Action, Content, and Keywords
I. Call to Action
Having no call to action will mean certain doom for your product of service! By presenting something for the user to do right away, you can keep the user from pressing the back button and get them deeper in your Web site. The best way to keep a user beyond the call to action is presenting rich content. One of the worst errors many SEO companies make is making content that is vague, and double-speak. One must imagine that once the user becomes aware that the Web site contains non-sense content that they will press the back button until they return to where they were before the Web site. Content that is meaningful is extremely important, and often embedding links in the text of that content can act to get the user deeper in the site and is one of the best methods to keep a prospect on your Web site.
II. Dense Content
Dense content can become quickly overwhelming for a Web user who has not allotted very much time for them to study. Splitting content up into specific calls to action is an excellent way to get those scanning to be able know the main points of the piece very quickly, and also able to make a decision. Starting with a conclusion is against the common wisdom, but is suggested in this circumstance because people want to know what the page is going to tell them and fast. According to Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger in “Prioritizing Web Usability” it appears that governments are some of the worst offenders when it comes to bulky content. Not having dense content also correlates with writing Web content for those with a low degree of literacy. The research accomplished creating “Prioritizing Web Usability”, suggests that one should not write anything above an eighth graders (Ages 12-14) reading level when composing for the Web. [Nielsen, Jakob and Hoa Loranger. Prioritizing Web Usability. Berkeley: New Riders, 2006 (p. 82-83)]
III. Old Content
Old content creates another usability problem often encountered online. Dated material that is irrelevant can quickly turn a five minute reading session into a waste of time. If the user on your Web site suspects that you have not updated your site recently, you will lose them, and they will not return again. Presenting the latest information about your field or service is pivotal to both usability and staying ahead of your competition. Keeping a Blog or something that allows for the constant update of the Web site whenever something new and exciting happens in the site’s area of expertise is recommended. Search engine agents also like fresh content, and will come back more often if they realize that you do always update.
IV. Keyword Usage
Search engine agents do not act much different than humans when it comes to content. The search engine agents that scan the Web and propagate the search engines with the latest data follow links to your Web site just as you follow a link from the search results they provide. Thinking like a search engine agent comes in handy in this instance. Search engine agents will know all the keywords on the page linking to the site in question, as well as all the keywords on the site at the other end of that link. Scanning one’s Website the search engine agent will obviously pay attention to the keywords used in the title and description, because that makes cataloging much easier. The keyword anchor text in the link tells more information about what is on the other side of this link, and after scanning the text on the page from the link, multiple links and the history of the site: judging what the page is about and where to catalogue it in the database become an easier task. In this instance, providing content with keywords is not only important, but it is actually providing the corridor to catalogue the information in the database of search results. In the future, this will become more important than the look of the actual page itself, as we develop our own personal search agents to find the information we want.
E. Frames, Java script, Flash, Intros, and Splash Pages
The joy of Web designers when flash came onto the scene is evident with the amount of useless flash sites that no one knows how to use or work on the Web today. Art projects conducted when trying to transmit information can create a problem. This problem is not derivative of only human users, but also brings trouble to the roaming search agents of the Web. While designing XML interfaces to communicate with search spiders is improving, the usability of flash sites is often still questionable because of the flights of fancy taken by the world’s Web designers. The use of frames, Java, Flash, Intros, and Splash pages can all be categorized as lesser problems, but still major difficulties to accessing online information.
I. Frames
Frames are a problem with usability mainly because of its use of a side scroll bar. Users are used to having a side scroll bar on the side of the browser. Those who prefer scrolling down to scan content will not be able to read all the content contained in the frame. Search engine agents also do not like frames and do not often catalogue the information contained within them. While they are not the absolute worst thing one can do to a Web page, it should still be avoided because of the confusion it can cause the Web user.
II. Java Script
Java script is used more common today on the Web than ever before. It is a dynamic scripting language that can definitely add functionality to a Web page. The problem comes for users that do not have Java on their computer, or the search engine agents trying to catalogue the information contained within the Java script itself. This is not a huge problem as much as it was a few years ago because many of the world’s computers and browsers now have Java installed on them. Search engine agents are also getting better at navigating Java script. Many effects that are commonly used with Java such as navigation image replacement can be accomplished with plain XHTML and CSS. This solution does not involve any loading, and actually improves the load time of the site. Having too much Java can lead to slow load times, and problems accessing things for those with special needs. For search agents, and for the overall user experience, it is best to see if the dynamic action one wishes to take can be accomplished with a simpler interface like that of CSS.
III. Flash Web sites
Flash Web sites have definitely become more standardized in distributing information to the public and to the search engine agents. Utilizing unfamiliar navigation menus and scroll bars seem to cause the most problems for usability. Flash itself is an excellent technology that is a fantastic way to communicate information. The main problems with flash arise from poor design and designer’s insisting on constructing art projects to access information. Some pointers for flash designers: make sure everything has a large click zone, and do not overuse sound effects, or animations, as it can be distracting and annoying. Flash as a programming language was never meant to make your site have decorations that float around, or sound effects anytime something happens. It was always meant to empower the user of a Web site by adding additional functionality that is not available on static pages. Creating animations between every action, or having movement on the page because you just learned how to do it is not acceptable. If the content is lacking on your Web page, perhaps you should consider changing it or hiring a professional Web writer. Do not simply utilize flash on the Web site because of the belief that a Web page is your canvas.
IV. Flash Introductions and Splash Pages
Flash introductions and splash pages are some of the most confusing and time consuming on the Web. It is a wonder why no study has been conducted yet on the amount of productivity lost by those seeking information on the Internet waiting in flash intros or trying to find how to get to the main page of a site off of a slash page. We can imagine that it might actually add up, and thus flash intros, splash pages, and loading times should be avoided at all costs. Forcing the user into a flash introduction movie is not a good move in that it provides something that is unexpected during the general user experience on the Web. It is as if one clicks on the contact page, and gets the home page. When one expects to see a Web site, but one is instead forced to stop their Internet searching experience for a movie to load, the tendency is to go for the back button or close the window. Flash introductions act as a weight on the user experience and provide something unexpected that can easily be controlled by providing an option to view the movie once on the Web site, as opposed to forcing them into it before they reach it.
Splash pages have become popular again as of late which is not so great for Web usability. Splash pages are pages that often are used in re-directs to bring users of the Web site to a specific offer or topic that is not the home page. The splash page is usually visually appealing like an advertisement, and lacks the functionality of the actual Web site. On top of this atrocity, the splash page often does not make it very clear how to reach the Web site and therefore it should be avoided if at all possible. Once again, bringing the user to something they do not expect can lead to the back button and the user to never return again. This is a danger that needs to be considered before implementation. Some ways to improve a splash page would be making it similar to the Web page, and making the home page very easy to access. The splash page creates confusion and presents no clear continuity with the Web site itself.
II. Implementing Usability Guidelines
Web usability guidelines are constantly evolving and are not static. When designing for the Web it is more important to understand what your user wants more than anything else. Calling potential customers to action is extremely important as is providing a medium that is not complex to use. While usability standards seem limiting, they are guidelines and are not laws. Advancements in technology will continue to drive Web usability.
A. Know Your Customer’s Customer
One of the biggest mistakes made by Web designers is that they do not research what the customer seeks on the Web sites they design. Often the focus is less on usability and more about the designers own agenda. Customers of information or services need to feel they have reached the correct place. Making sure the design and basic format of the site fits the business and does not interfere with the function of the site is extremely important. The content must also be something valuable and worth reading. It is imperative to take the perspective of those coming to the Web site. Imagine having to search for the information wanted and then suddenly reaching a site that says the call to action you sought. It is that very moment in time that all designers should attempt to capture on a Web page. It is this knowledge of what the designer’s customer’s customer wants that can help usability from the start of any project.
B. Have a Game Plan
Know what you want the potential customer to do or accomplish on a Web site. If the end game is for the individual user to call the phone number, do not make them go to the contact page to get that information. One does not want to create any barriers to the most important information. In a similar respect to a call to action, having a plan before designing is important to success. If one is dealing with an e-commerce site, make sure that all the processes involved with check out are streamlined, and the hottest selling products are easy to find on the front page. Presenting an easy interface for users to find or extract information starts with a game plan for the user. Even if the site is full of content, one should lay out a plan for that content before the project has even begun. Have a plan for your Web site user and make sure they know what you want them to do. Web usability will be greatly improved by those who just consider the plan for the Web user before the project has begun.
C. Let the User Control
Usability studies suggest that designs should present elements that the user expects. Complicated overly flashy designs cause confusion and users to become frustrated. This goes across the board when it comes to pop-ups and hover ads, moving text, flash intros, sound effects, music, strange navigation systems, splash pages, and video to make it look like people are walking around on Web sites. Make sure that any dynamic element of your Web page is controlled by the user and does not start without their permission. Video is an excellent resource and tool from a usability perspective, as long as the video does not begin as soon as the page is opened. Based on numerous usability studies, if the Web element surprises or is not controlled by the user, then they simply do not use it.
Chapter 4 - Accelerating Technological Change’s Impact on SEO and Web Usability
Web usability and search engine optimization are evolving at an accelerating rate. The implications from the combination of these two fields are enormous and will soon greet us in the twenty first century.I. The Acceleration of the union between SEO and Web Usability
Accelerating technological change has implications on Web usability and search engine optimization. Above all this implies an increasing harmony between SEO and Web usability. As we approach the technological singularity as espoused by Ray Kurzweil in "The Singularity is near", we also are increasing usability and access of information on an exponential curve. This means one day little to no barrier will exist between ourselves and the information we seek. The time will soon come when the barriers to information and usability we discussed in this book will be historical items of reference for those studying computer and Internet history.
A. What is the Technological Singularity?
The technological singularity is a point in the near future when human and machine cognition become blurred and we begin to transcend our own biology. In "The Singularity is Near" Ray Kurzweil’s book lays out in stunning detail the proof that development of information technologies have actually been accelerating on a more of an exponential curve similar to biological evolution. The impending technological singularity to which he speaks, created by this exponential growth, will alter every institution and aspect of human life like never before. The following quote by Ray Kurzweil sums the subject up best: "What, then, is the Singularity? It’s a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed. Although neither utopian nor dystopian, this epoch will transform the concepts that we rely on to give meaning to our lives, from our business models to the cycle of human life, including death itself." [Kurweil, Ray. The Singularity is Near. New York: Penguin Group, 2005 (p. 7)]
II. What are the Implications for Web Usability, SEO, and Site Design?
The technological Singularity’s implications on Web usability, search engine optimization, and site design are just as important as its implications on biological science, computer technology, and the economy.
A. The Union of SEO and Web usability
Being found on the Internet is just as important as users being able to use your Web site. In the early days of the Web, usability often took a back seat to the whims of the designers. Invention of search engine technology and the wide adoption of the technology by the late nineties meant that designers had to conform with certain guidelines for software search engine agents to better catalogue the information on a Web page. This led to abuses in the form of vaporous content, and keyword stuffing. Technology improved and allowed for algorithms based on link popularity, link backs, history and content to code ratios. The abuses of this system are obvious today all over the Internet. Many modern search engine results for keywords are spam or are dominated by news sites with outdated articles and directories that are hard to navigate. These sites often have more link backs than the site with the information you want and as a result you end up having to search multiple pages to find the information needed. It is important not to be overly critical of the search engine companies which constantly update and providing higher quality search results. Obviously the software search engine agents cataloging the Web will be more powerful and sophisticated than the current spider agents employed by our modern search providers. It is for this reason that those who have not already started implementing Web usability guidelines; should do so. Because it will not be long before the search engines include algorithms that prefer Web sites having content in usable form. Some of the spam writing and linking that occurs today on the Web may in the near future be punished because of the sophistication of the search engine agent. This union of SEO and Web usability is clearly because of the increasing amount of our culture and society integrating it into their daily lives.
B. The Times are a Changing
The days of being able to make a Web site in a few hours, throw up some vague content and expect people to click on your site is over. From a Web usability standpoint, creating high maintenance flash sites with artistic accents will never be something beneficial for the user. This is because most people click the back button before the flash presentation has finished loading. If one wishes to engage in search engine optimization, Web usability is now essential. The programming language one chooses to convey the information on a Web site now plays a key role in how one’s Web site is perceived and handled by the user. When designing the layout of a site, it is no longer about the whims of the designer, it is about Web conventions and providing the information people seek online in the most legible fashion. It is also important that any dynamic Web elements added to a page do something that improves the user experience and does not just provide an extra design element. Dynamic Web languages like PHP and cURL are making Web sites on the Internet resources that use and display data from other Web sites. This recent explosion of sharing information across the Web has led to the development of "Web bots" or "Screen Scrapers" that can gather the data from multiple sources on the Web and display it back on the Web site in whatever format chosen. This dynamism of the Web is just now beginning to take hold. The state of the art sites of today are now beginning to incorporate the entire Internet as a resource for information on their own Web sites. This signals a new shift in Web usability and SEO. Because it is not just about having Web site’s anymore, it is about providing a tool or resource that makes life easier for the user who seeks information online. Soon without the addition of a dynamic element such as those that gather data from the Web like a screen scraper, the user might leave a site because it has nothing to offer them. The times are a changing.
III. The End of Google
A. Google’s Final Days
When we have achieved the development of personal software agents that act as our own personal assistant to find information on the Web, Google’s days as we know it will be numbered. These ‘Personal Web bots’ will operate in a similar respect to those software search engine agents Google is using now to gather data for its search engines. With our own personal Web bots we will be able to gather information from all over the Web simultaneously without having to have the barriers of the browser, poor design, or search engines algorithm to block us. Information could be collected by these Web agents and arranged in the way prescribed by the specific user of the software. Customization and parsing of what information is collected and displayed will be driven by what the user wants, and will also be based on that users previous viewer preferences. No more annoying advertisements. No more Web designers bad taste. No more barriers to getting the information we seek in the format we prefer.
While this prospect might spell doom for the current advertising business model at Google, we must assume that the genius’s behind the current and next generation search technology will have already converted to the development of individual Web bots for people. This does not preclude the possibility that a new company will come along and take over the market before Google can get a chance. In the free market and capitalist system we live in, it is up to the Google or the next Google to bring information to the next generation of people faster and with lower barriers than the first.
B. Google’s Big Advantage
Google’s big advantage is that they already use the technology that can be applied to make personal Web bots. The Google bots that they use to collect data for search engines, while lacking the sophistication needed for what is suggested above, are the prototype for what is described. If Google were to set out to create personal Web bots that would provide information that was preferred by the user; it would signal a truly cosmic shift. This will encourage technologies continued acceleration towards the brave new world where automation and software helps us accomplish everyday activities. With Google already using the prototype technology to feed its search engines, if the advancement of technology is indeed on an exponential curve as Kurzweil suggests, we very well could start seeing these personalized Web bots become reality in the near future. Increased technological advancement on an exponential curve as displayed by Moore’s law [Moore, Gordon. Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits , ftp://download.intel.com/museum/Moores_Law/Articles-Press_Releases/Gordon_Moore_1965_Article.pdf (1965) "The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly a factor of two per year ... Certainly over the short term this rate can be expected to continue, if not to increase. Over the longer term, the rate of increase is a bit more uncertain, although there is no reason to believe it will not remain nearly constant for at least 10 years. That means by 1975, the number of components per integrated circuit for minimum cost will be 65,000. I believe that such a large circuit can be built on a single wafer."] with computer processing power; means that the processor needed for such an Internet agent is going to become possible sooner then we think. Google is already using the basis for our next generation usability and information power house in its search spiders and therefore will most likely have the means to develop such a bold new technology in the coming years.
C. The Age of Personalized and Automated Web Bots is Upon Us
Sometime in the near future your computer assistant will let you know when the news you want to read is published on the Web. Soon, if a competitor to your business has just launched a new store, press release, or Web site you will know about it instantly. This is not as far off a reality as one may think. The dynamic Web languages capable of this have already been created and are in use. We are in a period at the very beginning of the automation revolution that will change the very way we perceive ourselves and our place in the universe. We are already beginning to see the fruits of these languages with the development of Google and our modern search architecture. One can already receive an email from Google if they wish to know when a certain set of words is mentioned on the internet. This is the same exact technology that will be used to design the personalized Web bots that will soon help us find information or let us know when a subject we like is mentioned on the Internet.
From the invention of writing to the invention of the search engine we have always been heading towards more efficiency in the distribution of information. The personalized Web robot or computer based software that can tell you what you want to know in the format you want is the next evolution in usability and information gathering. User data that is collected by these intelligent software programs will be able to judge an individual’s preferences and parse the content and information in the way that best suits the user. Web design will no longer be a barrier to Web usability, because information will be displayed according to the actual user’s preferences. We are already seeing the seeds of this happening with Web sites that allow some users to see the site in a specific manner. It is obvious that the future points to Web content becoming more accessible and less clouded with poorly designed Web content resources.
Chapter 5 - Conclusion
The Convergence of Web Usability and SEO
The exponential increase in information technology implies that Web usability and search engine optimization are on the same path. The same acceleration and exponential change that applies to information technologies like the integrated circuits of our computers, is also applicable to Web usability and SEO. Whether it is someone today on a laptop, or someone in the future using a personalized search robot scanning the Web, Web usability and search engine optimization will continue to become more integrated. Information technologies continued exponential rise means that usability and search engine optimization will continue to harmonize until differences between them are non-existent. This displays the foundation upon which this book was written.
This book is merely a glimpse of Web usability presented by modern technology in our time. As Web usability merges with search engine optimization, guidelines will change and technological advances will become more integrated in our lives. We are truly approaching a fantastic future where all the information gathered will be presented in a format each individual user finds most usable and accessible. Future software integration with voice commands and screen readers will present potential increases in Web usability for those with special needs and literacy issues as well as add some dynamic elements to the personalized search robot of the future. Usability advances everything. Technology will continue to advance as will Web usability and search engine optimization. While this is just a brief look at Web usability in our time, it shows the increasing convergence of these two fields of study.
When the search architecture of the future has been formed and the new personalized Web bots and software developed that we will use to access it, our entire civilization will have changed. We will no longer be constrained to the whims of Web designers, search engine algorithms or a browser’s functionality. The personalized Web bots of the future will open up a new world of possibilities for the retrieval and display of the information we seek.
The next evolution in Web usability will coincide with the next giant leap in collecting and displaying information from the Internet. The two are now intertwined in some sort of cosmic rhythm, each needing the other, pushing up and out towards the bright horizon of the future. The evolution of Web usability will continue long after that age of personalized Web search bots. Understanding Web usability in our own time, and implementing its wisdoms, will help create the future data infrastructure our advancing technologies will make use of in order to improve the quality of life for all our descendants.
Copyright of this work belongs to Michael Latulippe, Become Noticed, INC and Clear Prominence Publishing
The Convergence of SEO and Web Usability (ISBN: 978-0-9824620-0-3)
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