Website Usability Guidelines

The following usability techniques will inprove your user's experience and your customer's conversion rate.

Competition Analysis
Conducting a competitive analysis is an important part of the job if you're a usability engineer or information architect. A good competitive analysis not only produces usability metrics but also aids decision makers in their strategic goal-setting and planning. Done right, a good competitive analysis can steer a Web development project in the right direction.
Content Inventory
A content inventory is a list of all the content on your site. If you are revising a Web site, start with a content inventory of what is now on the site. Then, use your Web site requirements to create a planned content inventory for the new version of the site. If you are developing a new site you will only have the planned content inventory.

Online Survey
Online surveys are structured interviews with users, where you display a list of questions online and record users' responses. You can use this technique at any stage of development: (1) Before you redesign your website, or (2) After you launch a new design. An online survey can also be a persistent item on your site that allows you to continually gauge how users view your site and identify ways to make the site better.
Cart Sorting
Card sorting is a way to involve users in grouping information for a Web site. Participants in a card sorting session are asked to organize the content from your website in a way that makes sense to them. Participants review items from your Web site and then group these items into categories. Participants may even help you label these groups.