Even though designing with the customer in mind, or “usability” as we call it in the web design business, isn’t a new concept, there seems to be increasing popularity in putting the customer first. Many traditional ad agencies haven’t embraced the concept of usability in the past, opting instead to design sites on the bleeding edge of technology or sites fit to win fancy awards. But can their sites sell?
One trend I’ve noticed recently is that marketing firms are embracing usability, especially search engine optimization firms. Last month, there was a seminar titled “Usability and SEO: Two Wins for the Price of One” at the Search Engine Strategies conference. Firms are blogging about usability. And SEOMOZ’s Rand Fishkin recently blogged about 17 New Rules for Successful E-Commerce Websites. While the rules presented in the article aren’t new per se, it does prove that sharp minds in marketing know that getting traffic to a web site isn’t worth the cost to the client if customers can’t figure out how to effectively interact with a site.
Today’s best firms understand that the fusion of designing usable sites and driving traffic through aggressive marketing is the formula for success.
