|
Page 1 of 2 When designing and maintaining a Web site, user experience is a simple, foundational concept that is often overlooked. The significance of the user experience is great, and can severely affect the success or failure of a publisher's affiliate marketing efforts. User experience is the concept that an interactive product, in this case a Web site, is tailored to the real needs of its users. Keep in mind that users come to your Web site to fulfill a specific need. By ensuring that your Web site provides a user friendly experience, you ensure that your users achieve their needs easily and feel satisfied with their experience. As a result, they will be inclined to return to your Web site, and ultimately become a loyal, repeat user.
In this article we look at ten elements that contribute to a user friendly experience including the navigational ease of a Web site as well as the content. As you review the following ten elements, consider how they relate to your Web site and what updates you could incorporate in order to provide a more user friendly experience. While some elements suggested below may require more effort on your part, and others may only require a small tweak, the steps you take to create a more user friendly experience will ultimately be reflected in increased revenue and return users.
- Navigation Bar – When a Web site contains multiple pages, a navigation bar helps users quickly locate the content that they desire. Typically, a left side navigation bar is more user friendly than a bar across the top of a page. Be sure that each item in your navigation bar is named appropriately and in a way that helps users easily find what they need.
- Search Box – Even if the elements in your navigation bar are properly named, and seemingly self explanatory, users often desire a search box to help them find exactly what they are looking for. If your users have a hard time finding what they are looking for on your Web site, there is a good chance they'll leave your Web site and try their search somewhere else.
- Organization and Detail – Keeping the content on your Web site well organized allows users to quickly find what they are looking for. For example, if your Web site offers a selection of electronic products, keep your category listings properly organized. Sometimes simply listing 'Electronics' is not enough. Be as detailed as possible by breaking out categories into sub categories, for example 'Electronics' could offer such sub categories as 'Computers, Photography, and Telecommunications.' In addition, a sub category such as Computers could be broken down even further to 'Desktop Systems, Notebooks, Monitors, and Printers.'
- Population – Keeping your content well organized is the first step, but ensuring your content is well populated is equally important. For example, are your advertisers listed in all of the appropriate categories? Users may look for Apple in computers, or they may look for Apple in music. Be sure to populate your category listings to ensure your advertisers are listed in all relevant categories.
- Links – Dead links are a top complaint for a poor user experience. Weed out your dead links, update links of advertisers who have changed landing pages, and remove links for advertisers who no longer have affiliate programs. To find out if you have any invalid links generating traffic, any deactivated advertisers in your program, or if there are any promotions ending within the next 30 days, log into your CJ Account Manager™, click on the Run Reports tab, select Performance Reports, and at the bottom of the page view the Frequently Run Reports.
- Forums – With user generated content being all the rage, forums are increasingly important to the user friendly experience. In addition to receiving information, users enjoy the interactivity that forums allow. Offering this outlet on your Web site provides users a place to share their own opinions and promotions of products, services, coupons or deals, increases the user's loyalty to your Web site, and ultimately drives sales. Forums create a community and enable the users to interact with each other. Blogs are also a good option, however they are more individualistic as the content is derived from one sources. Blogs only become community oriented when comments are enabled.
- Coupons – If you offer coupons, it is important to remove offers when they expire and to keep up with current deals. Consider implementing Commission Junction's RSS feed from the Commission Junction Offer Portal. The Offer Portal is a convenient gateway to access current advertiser offers. Visit http://www.cjbeta.com/offerportal/ for additional information on the Offer Portal and to access the RSS feed.
|
