Keeping your website as simple and easy to use as possible, is always best for your users. A website can easily become bogged down with too much information that’s added over time. It becomes less usable when it’s hard to find things because of information overload. You’ve added this information to help your users, but you’ll actually end up overwhelming them, causing them to leave before finding what they need.

We have some great tips on keeping your site simple, functional, and easy to use for your users. Read on to check it out!

Create a simple navigation

The navigation of your site is at the heart of usability and is the key piece in making things easy to find. Place it in a location that will be found and is intuitive for your users. Simplify it as much as possible by only listing very top level pages that are absolutely needed, place everything else in dropdowns or in secondary navigations to keep the space clean and uncluttered.

Make the main functions of your site easy

Determine the top reasons of why your target audience would be on your site and what they would want to do. Make these top items really easy to accomplish by either making the links to the pages stand out or place a link to it on every page. If users need to get in touch with you quickly, place your phone number and a contact form on every page. Even if they don’t land on the homepage first, they’ll find it.

Add a call to action on each page

Users often come to your site with a purpose but maybe they’re just checking it out and aren’t sure where to go. If you give them a call to action (click here to learn more), you’re helping to direct them through your site and give them pertinent information. It helps them find information more easily, and navigate through your site in a more intuitive manner.

Make it easy to connect

Connecting or contacting you should be really simple and easy, it’s one of the more common things people need when coming to a site. It also gives them a reason to stay in touch with you in another format besides coming back to the site. Add icons to social media links to make them recognizable, add your phone number and email to the footer or header, or just do what’s best for the contact style that your company prefers. Whatever you do, keep it easy for your users.

Eliminate unnecessary content

The easiest way to confuse users is to add too much content that isn’t really needed. If you’re directing users on how to set something up, provide an easy list with steps to complete, don’t make them piece it together themselves. Give them resources that they need, but only what’s useful and relevant for your website. Unneeded things will feel like clutter and will make your site harder to understand and navigate.

Simplicity is best for websites when you only have a limited time with your users. Allow them to find what they need quickly and easily so they can purchase, connect or complete what they need to on your site instead of someone else’s because yours is hard to navigate.

What are your best ideas on keeping your site simple and easy to use?