Perhaps it’s because usability sounds a little boring; or, it could be that business owners and marketers have simply gotten tired of the almost never-ending stream of buzz words and ideas that seem to come from those of us who spend our days thinking about the online world of business. Either way, the question so many of them seem to want to put to us, even if they don’t express in words, is this: who cares about usability?

Here’s the short answer – your clients.

Simply put, the people who buy from you, or choose not to, care very much about your website’s usability. To see why, you need to understand what usability is really about. Although there are entire books and websites devoted to the topic, in a nutshell it basically refers to how easy it is for people to do what they want to do when they are on your company’s website. If they can find what they’re looking for easily, or get to where they want to go, your site ranks highly in terms of usability; if they can’t, then it doesn’t.

That probably sounds like a pretty straightforward concept, so why has it become such a big topic now? The Internet has become a lot more complex place – with billions more destinations, and hundreds of features and design tools that didn’t exist even a few years ago. With all of those choices, design firms and their clients have let their imaginations run wild… in fact, maybe a little too wild. It’s not always as easy to find information, prices, and new resources as it was just a few years ago.

And so, even though they aren’t asking for it by name, customers are demanding usability. If you won’t make it easy for them, they’ll take their business and attention elsewhere.

Since keeping people happily navigating their way through your company’s website is one of the first steps toward online profitability, here are four ways you can improve your website’s usability right away:

Think destinations. When visitors arrive at your company’s website, what is it they are likely to be searching for? Whatever that is, make sure it’s easily accessible, not only from the homepage, but from anywhere else and interested customer might find themselves looking around. Clear navigation is one of the quickest and easiest steps toward a great usability.

Tone down the special effects. You might think that all the videos, sound effects, pop-up images and other features you paid so much to have installed on your website are fun, and they very well could be. But, if they prevent buyers from reaching the pages you ultimately want them to find, what’s the use? This doesn’t mean you have to strip down your site to nothing, just that it makes sense to remove the obstacles preventing your customers from doing what you want them to.

Say more with less. When most people think of usability, they think of navigational bars and big layout tools. But, it makes sense to consider the copy writing, too. While most of the design and marketing world has come to love long copy for its search engine friendly properties, the faster and more succinctly you can express yourself, the easier time customers will have finding the information and advice that matters to them.

Encourage feedback. When it comes to usability, there’s really no substitute from the actual human beings who spend time on your website. Encourage them to tell you what they like and what they don’t, as well as anything that might seem to them to be “in the way.” Occasionally, they’ll give you an insight that you or your design team might not have spotted because you are too close to the process.

Usability might be a newer buzzword in web design circles, but it relates directly to one of the oldest maxims in any kind of marketing or advertising: give your customers what they want, and make it easy for them to do the things you want them to do. With all the tools and tricks at our disposal today, it’s easy to overwhelm people and miss the point. Your customers care a great deal about usability, and you should, too.

In other words, there are times you should consider redesigning or relaunching any website… even one that’s still making money for you.

Obviously, knowing when that time should be isn’t easy, and we’ve had clients come into our offices and struggle with those choices. With any big change there are also risks: what if customers don’t like the new site? What if it they don’t respond to it like you hope they will? What if it turns out being a waste of time and money, or ends up losing you money?

Those are all good questions, and ones that shouldn’t be ignored. But there’s another one that’s just as important, and that sometimes gets lost when owners and marketers are fearful of making changes: is my site as profitable as it could be?

If it’s not, then you’re losing money anyway. And besides, being complacent tends to be a very bad way to compete online. No matter what you do, you can be sure your competitors are thinking of ways to improve. They’re not going to stand still, even if you decide to.

With that mind, here are a few signs it’s time to make some changes to a profitable website:

Your business has changed, or the industry has. The most obvious time to redesign or relaunch a website is when what you offer now is different than it was before, or when what your customers are looking for has shifted. In these instances, it doesn’t really matter how profitable you’ve been, since the change is likely to catch up with you very quickly. Being behind the times is going to cost you money, online or elsewhere, so be sure you aren’t caught watching from the outside in.

Sales are slipping. It’s not always easy to separate seasonal dips from real changes, but most owners and marketers have a gut instinct when business is starting to get away. Often, these aren’t big or dramatic moves, just a couple of percentage points here and there. Still, if sales are decreasing and you can’t pinpoint exactly why, that’s probably a good sign that it’s time to look at a new layout. It might be that what you have isn’t appealing to new customers, or that you are losing existing business because of changes in the competition. Speaking of which…

Your closest competitor made a move. Not every relaunch by a competitor should prompt you to go running to your web design firm. Still, if another vendor has come up with a look, layout, or set of functionalities that is clearly superior to yours, then it’s only a matter of time before the market responds. In that situation, you have two choices: either keep up, or figure out what you are going to do in your next career.

It looks old. The difference between old and familiar is a fine line, and there is actually a little bit of a risk with taking away what your current customers are already happy and comfortable with. But, at a certain point, a website starts to look past its prime – not because it changes of course, but because most other sites in the world have. When that’s the case, it tells prospective customers something important: that you have stopped growing and developing. When it comes to selling online, keeping up is important, if only to show people that you are.

If you find your company site meets one or more of these criteria, then the answer isn’t to move to a new design and layout as quickly as possible. Instead, make the move carefully, paying special attention to the parts of your current site that make it profitable the first place. In other words, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater – you won’t change your site for the better by just moving things around for the sake of making them different.

Once you’ve done that, follow the Golden Rule of online marketing: test everything. You’ll soon discover what customers like and don’t like about your new design, and areas where you can improve even more. The great challenge, and opportunity, of marketing your business on the Internet is that it’s a constant evolution. Just as your last website didn’t last forever, neither will your next one, so keep track of what’s going on and be ready to make another move when the time comes.

• #1 Christmas Tree (11,100,000)
• #1 Christmas Music (11,100,000)
  
• #2 Santa Claus (6,120,000)
• #3 Christmas Cards (4,090,000)
• #4 Christmas Gifts (3,350,000)
• #5 Christmas Decorations (1,830,000)

Surprisingly, ‘regifting’ was not in the top five.

We were also surprised that ‘Aunt Vivian’s Fruitcake Recipe’ did not make the list either.