50 Tips To A User Friendly Website

  1. Clicking on the logo should take you to the home page;
  2. Your logo/site title should be positioned in the top left of the page;
  3. Duplicate your main navigational links in the page footer with links to additional, but less prominent pages;
  4. Keep your navigation positioning consistent from page to page;
  5. Don’t open links in a new tab/window, except PDF’s and embedded documents;
  6. Highlight your current location in your navigation bar;
  7. Use reasonable sized fonts (12px or larger);
  8. Make sure font sizes are flexible (Use em’s or %, not px);
  9. Sans-serif fonts are easier to read at small sizes;
  10. Serif fonts are easier to read at large sizes;
  11. Center your layout on the screen;
  12. Use a page width appropriate for your audience (Older people use lower resolutions, tech saavy people use higher resolutions);
  13. Use whitespace to logically group related items on the page;
  14. Use font sizes, colors and styles to prioritize content;
  15. Use 1.4 or 1.5em line height;
  16. Use line lengths of 45 – 60 characters, the same as a paperback book;
  17. Link to related content within the context of your page content;
  18. Make sure your links change color/style when visited;
  19. Always underline links, except some navigational cases;
  20. Do not make important parts of the website look like an advertisement;
  21. Use pull quotes to highlight important content in a lengthy article;
  22. Text should be concise and scannable;
  23. Use dark gray text instead of black text on a white background;
  24. Break long pages into multiple pages;
  25. Do not use all uppercase words, word shape helps word recognition;
  26. Divide text into sections and use sub headlines to make content more easily scanned;
  27. Keep a consistent layout, colors and typography throughout the whole site;
  28. Print friendly automatically with print stylesheets;
  29. Use buttons to submit forms (Some images which look like buttons are ok);
  30. Don’t disguise or over-style inputs;
  31. Don’t redesign standard UI elements, like scrollbars (this means you, flash people!);
  32. Use breadcrumb navigation for hierarchical content;
  33. Search results page should reiterate the phrase you searched for;
  34. Do call your homepage “home” – not “welcome,” “front page,” “your company name” or anything else;
  35. Use short and easy to read URL’s;
  36. Give links to other content on your site related to their current page;
  37. Optimize images for fast downloading;
  38. Publish new content regularly, don’t “set it and forget it;”
  39. Test in all browsers and OS’s, and different versions – IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome;
  40. Listen to your users and let them dictate changes (user centered design);
  41. Avoid using jargon in page copy unless absolutely necessary;
  42. Keep forms short, only ask for what you absolutely need;
  43. Encourage conversation around your content.  Comments, forums, etc…;
  44. Include a text only sitemap;
  45. Use the title attribute on links to add more context;
  46. Never use “click here” as the text on a link;
  47. Write in a inverted pyramid style;
  48. Create friendly 404 pages which help people find content;
  49. Create incentive to come back later;
  50. Connect information via hyperlinks, don’t force navigational channels;

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