Part 2 – Three Simple Tips to Optimize the User Experience
In the last section of this series on optimizing the user experience, we looked at different ways to standardize common tasks that you want your users to take. In part two of this series we are going to be looking at ways to create and present content to your audience in a way that will meet their needs and yours at the same time.
Tip 2: Format Information for Reading and Printing First, Search Engines Second
There are several differences between formatting for the screen, paper, and search engines. When you are writing your content on a screen you should keep a few key points in mind:
●Don’t make your font sizes too small. Most people will experience eye fatigue when reading on a screen much quicker than on paper, and will experience it even faster as the fonts get smaller.
●Try to utilize Sans-Serif Fonts rather than Serif fonts in areas where there is a large amount of copy (e.g., Arial or Verdana instead of Times New Roman). When you use fonts that have sharp edges like Times New Roman the edges get softened and blurred to make the square pixels on a screen look pointed. This is a great trick to perform on the mind, but it is also responsible for causing people to skim large blocks of copy rather than really reading it.
●Use headings, images, and bullet points to break up content wherever possible. This will help people feel that they are reading smaller sections of copy rather than one giant article.
We also recommend the use of a print style sheet on your site. This will tell your browser to reformat your content to fit on a printed page in a much more user-friendly format. For example:
●Your audience may not care about all of the navigation elements on a printed page, so removing those areas will give you more room for printing.
●With a browser the user can change their font size, but on a piece of paper, it is what it is. We would recommend using a larger base font size for printed pieces (12 point at a minimum).
●Have a section of your site which is invisible on the screen but then prints on paper. This area could show the path the user took to get to this page, and some additional contact info or URLs that they can refer back to from another computer later on.
●Keep in mind that printing costs money for your users. Try to keep the printing of any unnecessary graphical elements to a minimum so that you are asking your users to use as little paper and ink as possible.
Now that you have taken the user experience into account, you can go back to do the normal technical things you would do to optimize your page. Now you can add your keywords into the appropriate areas of your site, but be sure that it does not reduce the readability of your content for your users. Utilize your Title Tags, Heading Tags, and Alt Tags, etc. wherever possible.
Look for part three in the upcoming QuickTakes!
Photo By: healia.com
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Dan Walden
