How well is your website performing? Is it easy to use? You might think your website is intuitive and easy to navigate but do your visitors agree? If you are considering a website redesign, why not ask the people that are using it how they feel you can improve the current layout and content? They will be able to tell you from an objective point of view the areas they feel you can improve on. On the other hand, if you only want to make minor changes, below are a few simple tweaks you can make to improve the overall usability of your website.

Install Analytics software
As discussed in a previous post, analytics software like Goole Analytics will give you an idea of how people interact with your website. The statistics derived from an Analytics package can be used to improve the overall performance of your website. For instance, analytics data will indicate which page has the highest exit rate. How can that page be improved in order to provide visitors with more information and ideally convert them to a lead?

Update your website’s content to include clear calls-to-action
Do visitors know what you want them to do on each page of the website? Even if you have well-optimised copy, make sure clear calls-to-action are included on each page and continuously monitor the website’s conversion rate to determine which pages can be improved.

Newsletter sign-up button
If you have newsletter, make sure the sign-up button is clearly visible – ideally above the fold with a clear call-to-action.

Search function
Can users search your website for the specific information they are looking for? If not, consider adding search capability to your website.

Contact page
Make sure all the information listed on your contact page is up to date. If you have an online contact form make sure it is working and ensure that whoever is responsible for replying to emails from the contact form is doing it promptly.

Maintaining a website requires an investment of time and the most successful websites are the ones that are updated and tweaked on a continuous basis.

I came across this presentation on SlideShare.net and think it gives a good overview of how the data derived from an analytics package (like Google Analytics) can be utilised to increase the return on investment of your website.

Have you used / are you using Analytics to determine how your website can be improved?

BMW is conducting a research project whereby they aim to improve their service levels by extending the real world by adding virtual information to assist their employees with highly technical work.

The video below explains how BMW foresee augmented reality changing the way their cars are serviced.

Uses of augmented reality like the above provide real-world benefits and it would be interesting to see how (and if) brands adopt augmented reality to add value for their clients.