According to a recent study, implementing website usability enhancements can increase your online ROI by 83%*.

Consider a few examples:

• A major online retailer experienced a 3,000% increase in sales for a consumables product category within one week after implementing changes to the homepage based off consumer insight from usability testing studies.

• A major consumer products manufacturer utilized usability studies to identify a new online shopping model for one of its product categories. The result was that 99% of people indicated they would purchase from their online catalog versus only 40% that said they would purchase from other website options.

Let’s face it, companies invest significant resources into developing, maintaining and promoting their websites – and for good reason. A company website is often the first place potential customers go to learn more about your firm and determine if they want to take the next step – turning interest into action.

But is your company maximizing its online ROI? When new visitors come to your site, is it what they expected? Can they find the information they’re looking for or accomplish what they intended to do? Is it better and more intuitive than competitor websites? Do you really know if it’s working and what prospects think?

Many companies do not.

Thus, the invaluable role that a usability assessment can provide. Usability refers to how intuitive and user friendly your website is to the target audience and encompasses everything from site design to content, navigation, categorization, and functionality. The beauty of usability reviews is that it is extremely flexible and can be accomplished in many different ways for any type of website or online tool. And, it can be incorporated at any point of the development process.

Perhaps the most effective and enlightening approach is a usability testing study in which people are observed navigating your website and verbalize their thoughts as they go along. Many studies will also compare your website to the competition, providing even greater insight into how well your website fares against others and what you should be doing differently. Let’s face it, you don’t really know how effective your website is until your hear it from your target market firsthand. This type of study is invaluable in identifying where problems exist and how to solve them. And, they can be conducted in a lab environment, on site or even remotely.

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