Although you might have designed an impressive website, it hardly matters if people do not use it. When you build a website, the last thing that you want to happen is that people can’t behave or use it the way you would like them to do. This factor is known as website usability.

For example, if you want your visitors to buy a product or even subscribe to your newsletter via your website, but are not able to convince them to do so, then you definitely have a usability issue with your website. Website usability forms a crucial element of your website’s overall performance. Here, I will describe in detail three proven techniques for improving website performance.

• Website analytics
• Usability testing
• Personas

With the help of these three elements, you will be able to understand how well your website performs. For example, you will be able to understand who effective your website is in converting visitors to buyers or how effective is your website in providing key information to users.

1.    Use Website Analytics to measure progress
There are standard ‘website statistics’ programs available on the market that do nothing much to help you understand the effectiveness of your website spot-on.  Rather, you can develop your own analytics strategy to help you discover your problem areas. The best way out is to start with the objectives. If you want to increase the number of visitors on your website, then that is an objective. Next, track the number of unique visitors that you get and how long they stick to your site. Now, determine your conversion rate by tracking how many visitors do the key action that you want them to do such as signing up for your e-zine or buying a specific product. These actions will help you focus on the core area – of determining where usability analysis can help you the most.

2.    Perform Usability Testing
To understand how people interact with your website, you actually take people to your website and watch them use it. You can watch them alongside, or watch them from behind a one-way mirror, or even record their behaviour on a computer and watch it later. To get things done better, you can even hire a usability professional to do the task. The usability professional will mostly conduct a test which will involve the following steps:

• Define the objectives of the test – what is it that you would like to accomplish with this test?
• Recruit the participants who are willing to do the test – though this can be frustrating, you will really succeed if you find the right people
• Prepare and conduct the usability test – include what you would like the person to do. The success of the test is in determining whether the person was able to do what was expected.
• Present and report the results of the test – study the results and determine where the issues exist

3.    Create Personas
Though this may be difficult to understand right away, these are user profiles that explain who the person is and what are the issues they encountered while seeking what they expected from the site. Though personas are ‘fake people’, they are created from real data and explain the real situation they encountered while using your website.

To conclude, your website can indeed be a top performer once you know how people utilize it and are able to meet their expectations through it.  With the knowledge of website usability and how people interact with your website, you can improve your website design and website marketing strategy for ultimate business success.