Discover the key design features that make small business websites easy to use, improving visitor experience and conversion rates.
A user-friendly website makes it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for within three clicks. Your navigation menu should be simple and clearly labelled — avoid clever or cryptic labels that leave visitors guessing. Organise your site with a logical hierarchy: main categories in the navigation, subcategories on dropdown menus. Include a search function if you have a large amount of content, and always include a prominently visible link to your contact page.
Visitors scan web pages rather than reading them word-for-word. Support this behaviour by using short paragraphs (2-3 sentences maximum), bullet points for lists, bold text for key phrases, and clear headings at regular intervals. Choose a font size of at least 16px for body text and ensure sufficient contrast between text and background colours. Avoid cluttered layouts — white space (empty space around elements) improves readability and makes content feel more approachable.
On mobile devices, user-friendly design means tap targets (buttons and links) are at least 44px by 44px, text is readable without zooming, and content doesn't require horizontal scrolling. Forms should minimise the amount of typing required. Dropdown menus should work well on touchscreens. Test your website on multiple actual mobile devices — not just browser-based emulators — to identify real usability issues.
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