Website facilitation - 10 useful elements

Of course, some people like them more, some less, but there is no doubt that the purpose of using them is as positive as possible.

The question is, are there universal facilitators? We're talking about the ones that will work on most sites.

By all means, in my opinion.

Below is a list of ten that will work in many cases.

Simplifying your website - 10 features you should pay attention to

1. Implement a feature to send a copy of the message to your own inbox

I realize this has been discussed many times on our blog, but if it's something really worthwhile, we see no reason to quickly close this topic.

I'm referring to an option on a form (like a contact form) where you can send a copy of the message to your own mailbox.

Without this, we actually have to trust the form itself 100 percent. We just have to trust that when we click the send button, the message has actually been sent.

Instead, this feature allows us to archive the sent text in our mailbox. We just have clear evidence of what and when we shipped. It's always something you can turn to when needed.

2. Include a Table of Contents in Blog Posts

We use a LuckyWP Table of Contents on our blog and I can honestly say that this is one of the best decisions we've made in recent times.

We also noticed many followers of our actions from this angle 🙂 .

This WordPress plugin allows you to automatically create a table of contents so that users can familiarize themselves with the points that await them below.

And that's not all of it Benefits!

The links highlighted in red were added by Google specifically based on the headings that the LuckyWP TOC took into account when creating the TOC.

Clicking on any of the above links will take you directly to the specific place throughout the text.

In general, if you are considering creating a website, then the blog table of contents will be a hit.

3. Think about the meaning of a sidebar

A sidebar, or sidebar.

A section of a page that has been used mostly by blogs for many, many years. Once an integral part of them, today it is increasingly seen as a relic of the past.

While subpages such as categories and tags usually make sense, there are some indications in a single blog post that that you can do without it.

We adhere to the principle that an article is an article. If someone visits the site, it means that he wants to read it. He is interested in text, content. They are not interested in any elements on the side that only take up space and ruin the symmetry.

Many people use the sidebar to place call-to-action elements. That's great, but the desire to get more conversions can't take precedence over aesthetics and usability.In the end, such a section can be placed right below the blog article.

The sidebar on the site, or tips on the sidebar, is a text by Michał Ziłkowski, which you can read if you are interested in this topic.

4. Enter a search engine (but with your head)

Search engines on websites are used to quickly find the content users want.

They are usually a good option, assuming, of course, that the content of the website in question is broad enough that it would make sense to comb through it with just a search engine.

On the other hand, if your site is small, leave it alone.

Otherwise, make sure that the search engine returns relevant results first.

Furthermore, if you're searching primarily for blog content, limit your results to articles. Appearance in the results on the main page "Contact us", "About us", etc. usually doesn't make sense.

5. Use Hick's Law

Making a website easier is closely related to Hick's Law.

It states that the more choices we have, the harder it is to make a decision. In many cases, the many options available overwhelm us so much that we end up giving up on making a decision.

This principle can be summed up in one sentence: less is more.

That's why on the web websites have been dominated by minimalism for several years. Reducing distractions and other elements, oddly enough, works in favor of site owners.

If there are fewer elements vying for our attention, then our eyes wander only to the most significant ones.

Hick's Law also applies to price list design, but you can read about this topic (and many others) in the text dedicated to this very problem: Hick's Law on websites - how to use it in practice?

6. Ditch the homepage slider

Who loves sliders?

Website owners first.

Yes, that's right. The number of supporters of a slider on a site is usually limited by the site owner and only a fraction of the visitors.

There has been a lot of research into the usability of sliders in recent years, and the results have generally been convincing. The second and subsequent slides are of exactly the same interest to end users as the following subpages of Google search results.

So small percentage that it should not be taken into account.

Slider , if it has aesthetically composed content, it can look beautiful. There is no doubt about this. However, in terms of usability, in many cases it creates problems and is an unnecessary element.

7. Use relative dates

Does the fact that the article was written on 01/21/2019 tell you anything?

What does the fact that it was written 4 months ago tell you?

Here's the difference.

The date represented by the first method is absolute.It will be relevant and "correct" for all time. Whether we are in the year 2030 or 2040.

There is a problem, however, which is that we have to organize this date in our head, place it in time. Only after some time do we understand what specific point in time we are talking about.

The second way is a relative date. It refers to the current moment and is counted backwards from it.

For us humans, it is more accessible, as it immediately correlates the date with the present. We immediately understand what time it is.

When planning to promote a website, consider presenting dates in relative terms on your own blog. Yes, there will certainly be supporters of the traditional way of presenting them, but practice dictates that you stick to a method designed for a wider audience.

8. Show Estimated Reading Time

Many people find it superfluous, although I know some people who really benefit from it.

Estimated time to read this article is only an estimate. It cannot be taken in a certain, literal way. Each of us reads at our own pace; in fact, the averages of various studies of reading speed in Polish give different results.

In fact, it is important to quickly show whether reading a given text takes only a few minutes or whether this reading takes a longer time (for example, 20 minutes or more).

Then you can quickly assess whether it is worth taking coffee to read or whether it would be wiser to throw the text into Pocket to read it later.

9. Choose to scroll over to click

Making websites easier to work with is also about how they are read.

Clicking and using the mouse (or our finger) scroller is both an action. However, clicking (or confirming with a finger) is an action that requires more from us.

Someone might ask the question - can tapping a finger be considered in the context of an action at all? Should I even pay attention to this?

Yes, absolutely.

Otherwise, Facebook would not have an infinite scroll function on the main page, but only pagination, which, for example, would force us to go to the next page after ten events.

Rather than requiring users to make a lot of decisions, it's better to make everything as easy as possible for them. Provide content in a form that is easy to scroll (or scan), and only at the very end, for example, with a CTA section, direct them to take action.

Of course, all this should be done in moderation, since violent implementation will not end well in many situations.

10. Use the so-called fold

Content is often referred to as "above the fold", ie. above the so-called inflection point.

What is the point of this?

The principle is that the most important (or rather the most eye-catching) content should be at the entrance.Immediately, so that the user sees it at a glance, and not after performing some action (like scrolling).

Again, I give you a hint in one of our texts, where I discuss exactly this topic. Space above the fold - there you will find a lot of valuable information, as well as ready-made examples.

Why introduce simplification of working with websites?

Convenience on websites is in many cases "taste" ", that is, seemingly unimportant questions that turn out to be very useful in the end.

Their role is simple - to increase the level of usability of sites, and simply please our eyes.

I hope that the above text has shed some light on this topic for you.