I can see this scenario at least for the next 10 years. And lots of idiots will go out of business because of the frustration that they caused.

“Just go to rap videos dot mtv”

“…dot com?”

“No dot com.”

“No dot com?”

“Yeah, just rap videos dot mtv. No dot com at the end.”

“So you’re saying rap videos dot mtv no dot com?”

“Yes.”

“That’s weird.”

“I know.”

“Oh well… OK…” :: Goes to computer and types “rapvideos.mtvno.com” ::

Technorati Tags: confusion, domain, domain names, domains, funny, icann, tld, top level domains, Usability

Every now and then, I run across something like this:

Thank you.

This assessment is now complete. To return your assessment list please click on the “Return to Participant Selection Screen” link above.

In most cases, this sort of message appears on a system that people will rarely use. But, as the developer, you feel like your application is the most important thing in the world. So you find this to be a good opportunity to “train” the user on using your left navigation.

But why not change the message to this and make it easier on everyone? No one wants to read instructions on doing things. They just want to do it.

Thank you. This assessment is now complete.

Return to My Assessment List

Faster, to the point, and everyone wins.

Technorati Tags: design, development, hci, human factors, interface, interface design, Programming, software development, ui, Usability, ux, web design, web development

Speaking your customers’ language, revisited (…again)

I’ve made it a point to tell you repeatedly about the benefits of using the words your customers use. You need to learn about the language your market speaks. Your market is becoming less accepting of your awkwardly huge vocabulary. (Unless you are a part of an open source project and enjoy confusing people to death!)

I believe that this thinking needs to go further than that when you’re building a web site. The information on your web site needs to be organized in a fashion that your customers understand.

Consider this. I recently described how Target organizes its sales floor to a colleague:

Blue World

• Toys
• Electronics
• Camping
• Automotive
• Cards & Gift Accessories
• Bikes

Yellow World

• Clothing
• Shoes
• Accessories
• Jewelry

Green World

• Linens
• Furniture
• Food & Snacks
• Domestic Goods
• Appliances
• Cosmetics
• Pharmacy

Would it be wise for Target to organize their web site into sections for Blue World, Yellow World, and Green World? Would customers get it without thinking much about it? While there is value in Target employees knowing this classification system, I doubt anyone outside this ring would come close to understanding what would be in each world.

So where does SEO come in?

SEO is not the end-all solution to IA problems, but it can help.

If you research the words that your customers look for with tools like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery, you find out what’s important to your customers. You find out the popularity of search terms in your customers’ own language. You know what to emphasize in your site’s navigation.

If you were on a cookie site looking for chewy cookies, which set of navigation tabs are you going to respond to with the least amount of thought?

I know, I know. Kind of an absurd example, but I’ve seen dumber information architectures! I like how if you’re looking for the word “chewy,” it can’t help but jump out at you in the second example. Go ahead, look at it again and give it a try.

Information architectures are selfish

Have you ever been writing and had trouble deciding which word to use in your sentence?

Should I use “pensive” or “contemplative?” Hmm…

You can run across the same problem when defining your information architecture. You can only choose one word amongst its synonyms. So why not do a little keyword research and just pick the word that your customers use more often? Chances are, they’ll understand it better, and they’ll bite the hook.

Repeating myself yet again

I’ll be a broken record and say that SEO only helps. It doesn’t solve IA problems, but it’s another tool. Think of keyword research as your Ask the Audience lifeline. And really, is usability testing much different?

I’ve been explaining the virtues of SEO over the past few posts. Now we know why SEO is good for accessibility and the general experience of searching for information. Here’s another way it helps contribute to improved user experience.

Technorati Tags:
seo, usability, html, web

Marketing in the name of usability

Search Marketing includes the word “marketing” for a reason. You need to evaluate your options to determine where you can get the most value, or return on investment. Fortunately, a lot of the work behind Search Engine Optimization is fairly universal after you’ve completed the research on keywords to optimize on.

When you’re a marketer, you want your resources to create business for the organization. You’re interested in a web site’s ability to convert a visitor into a customer (visitors include searchers!). You want for the site to meet its visitors’ needs.

When you’re a Search Marketer, you want your landing pages to create business for your organization. You want to optimize where a searcher lands on your site so that it meets his or her needs. If you can figure out how to address these needs, you will succeed in creating business.

Emphasizing important words in the name of usability

I already talked about how SEO helps your site to speak in your customers’ language, not your own. Part of SEO involves emphasizing important keywords on a page. You should emphasize words that are important to your customers in headers and by bold-facing these words on the page.

Why is emphasizing your customers’ language important? You take for granted that you’re reading the words on this page. When people are searching for information to solve their own problems, they don’t often want to spend much time searching. To save time, most people scan the words on web pages. They don’t read everything, only what’s important to them.

A lot of time, people do this scanning to evaluate whether or not they want to spend any more time on your site. If you’re emphasizing words that are important to them, they’ll be more likely to stay. You’ve helped them out, hero!

Internal links in the name of usability

A part of SEO involves examining how pages within your own site link to each other. For a given page, you must ask yourself if it links to everything on your site that is related in some way.

If a product page falls within a given category, does the product page link back to the category? If other products are related to a given product, does the product page link to those related products?

Make it easy on your visitors. They are looking for information, so provide it for them.

Outbound links in the name of usability

Like it or not, your site should also link to other related sites. The search engines are looking for indicators about where your site fits in the big picture.

If your site is about coffee, you probably want to link to some information about how to make coffee and good coffee makers.

If your business is local in Columbus, Ohio, you’ll want to consider linking to maps and information about Columbus. This is especially important if you are providing a service where location is crucial. I’ve seen local search traffic increase just by linking a local service’s site to all of its related areas Wikipedia pages. If it’s a Columbus-based service, link to all of the suburbs of Columbus as well.

Let’s think about that in context of what the searcher is looking for. If they search for “pizza in columbus ohio” and get to your site, what do they want to see on the landing page? If they live in Westerville, they want to see Westerville listed somewhere on the site. Provide the information, and make it relevant!

Making technology work for everyone (…in the name of usability)

Another useful side effect of SEO is in discouraging the wrong use of technology.

I’m surprised by (and proud of) the number of small business owners that come to me and “don’t want anything too flashy.” While Adobe will encourage you to build whole web sites in Flash “for a better experience,” SEO practitioners will encourage otherwise.

I am in the camp that says that Flash and other flashy technologies should only be used where it’s needed. If HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can’t show a visitor all angles of your product, then by all means use Flash to do it. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript definitely can’t display video like a nice Flash-based YouTube widget. And more people have the Flash plug-in installed than any other piece of software.

Another benefit of good SEO work is in recommending the use of alternative versions of the flashy content. Provide content that describes the information that the Flash-based content is trying to convey. Sure, the alternative content isn’t as convenient, but that’s why it’s the alternative. Not everyone can view Flash, and Google is in this group. Cater to everyone and reap the benefits.

How SEO doesn’t help with usability

SEO is not a replacement for solid user testing. But if you can have one more person in your organization that is optimizing your site for a better experience, a good Search Marketer is a good hire.

Matching your content to searchers’ problems (in their own terms)

This one is simple. Searchers choose their own words when they search, not your words. If you think products on your site should be described as “precious stone human waste receptacles,” and you use that wording, then you have a problem. Your users are calling your products “marble toilets.” But Google thinks your site is about stone human waste receptacles. Your users want to find you, but they won’t!

There is a side benefit to optimizing your content based on searchers’ language. It forces you to describe things the way your customers do. In most cases, this makes your content more usable, understandable, readable, and guards marketers against using confusing marketing wow-wow on your site. Be sure to use these customer-friendly words in logical places so you don’t confuse the customers.

Your SERP listings matter too

SEO doesn’t stop at ranking well for keywords in Google. How your result looks in the search engine result pages (SERPs) will determine if the right qualified searchers click through to your result.

Which of these 2 results do you think would make me want to click through for a search I ran for “huggy bear t-shirts”?

1. eBay.co.uk Shop – t shirts: Gotcha t shirts: Gotcha t-shirts …

   t shirts: Gotcha t shirts – Gotcha t-shirts, Gotcha apparel, t-shirts, snowboard clothes, … Curios George (1). Doctor Who (2). Goonies (1). Huggy Bear (2) …
   stores.ebay.co.uk/JustTeeShirts_Gotcha-t-shirts_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ15QQftidZ2QQtZkm – 96k

2. STARSKY & HUTCH – HUGGY BEAR – *XL* OFFICIAL T-SHIRT on eBay …

   Find STARSKY & HUTCH – HUGGY BEAR – *XL* OFFICIAL T-SHIRT in the Clothes, … Other Starsky & Hutch T-Shirts also Available – Please see my other items or …
   cgi.ebay.co.uk/STARSKY-HUTCH-HUGGY-BEAR-XL-OFFICIAL-T-SHIRT_W0QQitemZ320129824660QQihZ011QQcategoryZ313QQ… – 93k

The second result I listed above does a much better job of giving me the information scent of what I’m searching for. Sure, if I’m a searcher desperate to find the shirt after clicking through some low quality results, I may click the first one eventually. But competition is fierce, and the first page of results on most search results are not crowded with bad listings anymore.

This is a tough one because how your listing appears in the SERPs is not directly under your control. But with some SEO, you can influence it.