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User Has Difficulty in Finding What They Are Looking For

One of biggest signs that your site has usability problems is that users struggle to find the information they're looking for.

You might find that:

• you're not getting as many enquiries as you think you should be
• your recent redesign resulted in sales toppling
• while visitors make plenty of searches, few follow through with the results

These situations usually occur when users have to struggle to use your site. And sadly, this is one of the most common problems that Internet users encounter.

Logically, the larger your site, the more difficult it will be to find something within it. But more commonly, a poorly structured navigation system, poorly worded links and ineffective site search engines contribute to this common usability problem.

Make sure you provide lots of assistance and visual cues to help your users find what they are looking for.

For example:

• Site search engine that includes a description, in addition to the page title, of each returned link
• An optional advanced search system
• Site map
• Alphabetical index
• Prominent display of popular content above-the-fold on the home page
• A customized "404 - File not found" error page which helps users try to find an alternative to the page that is missing

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