Website User Testing
Want to find out what people REALLY think about your website?
Do you think you have a pretty snazzy website that your users all love? Do you think it’s easy to navigate around? Do you think that all users have the same experience and that your website is great for people who know what they are looking for as well as people with no previous experience of you or your business?
Would you like to actually KNOW?
As small business owners with websites, this is one of the biggest traps for us – especially if you have made your website yourself. Of course you think it looks great and is really usable but you probably don’t actually know for sure.
That’s where testing comes in.
However, split testing with a focus group and getting people to come in and sit down and ask them questions about your website costs a fortune and it’s often a cost that small business owners can’t afford to pay. But now there is a better and more cost-effective way of finding out how well your website is working for your business.
With my website user testing program, I can arrange for 1, 2 or more testers to have a look at your site and you can have the video of what they look at, what they say and more importantly what they think about how usable your website is.
And the best part about the testing is that you set the scenario of someone using your site, what you want them to find or how you want them to use it. This is REALLY specific testing that is invaluable if you want a website for your business that actually works!
Here’s how it works:
1. You tell me the address of the website you want to have tested.
2. You set the scenario of how you want the user to think while they are doing the test. For example, if you have a travel website you could say, “Imagine you are a mother of a young family with two young children aged 5 and 18 months and you are looking for the ideal family holiday package to Fiji”.
3. Then you set the specific tasks for the user to try to complete while they are doing the test. For example, if you wonder how easy it is for your site’s visitors to find your contact details or how easy it is for them to go through to your payment page and make a purchase you can set these as specific tasks for the user to try to complete. Remember, the user has about 15 minutes to complete them all so they should be written in such a way to get it done in that time limit.
4. This is the good traditional focus group kind of stuff. You can ask up to 4 questions of the user to answer after finishing the test. These questions could include:
What would have caused you to leave this site?
What other ideas do you have about how this site could be improved?
What did you like about the site?
What do you think of our logo?
What do you think about the layout of the site?
Is there too much, not enough or just the right amount of advertising on the site?
Can you rate the website out of 10 if 1 was horrible and 10 was outstanding?
Anything else you would like to say to the owner of the site?
5. Then you select how many users you would like to complete the testing.
6. Then you set your target audience so that the test is only completed by people who fit your specific criteria. You can define the users by gender, age, where they are from, their household income and whether their web expertise is that of a beginner, intermediate or advanced user. You can also include specific technical requirements that the user has to fit into – for example, the testers must have a Facebook profile or a Twitter account or they must be running Windows 7 or Internet Explorer as their web browser and so on.
The best part is that we can usually have a detailed video and full report to you the same day!
Remember, the users match your target demographics, you receive a video of the user actually doing the test on their screen, listen to the users’ voice while they are doing the test – they are encouraged to think aloud as they complete the test which gives you a better insight into what your users might be thinking also, AND you get to ask the users who did your tests follow-up questions.
And it’s great value.
1 user doing your test costs just $59 including GST and for a limited time 2 users costs just $99 including GST. You can have up to 100 testers if you like but if you want to start out small and with very specific questions and tasks for the users, this represents great value for your business.
But be careful.
The testers are all independent and have no allegiance to either you or The Bowditch Group. As such, they will give you 100% honest and unbiased advice on your site and sometimes that can be a bit brutal to hear – especially if your website is your baby and you think there is nothing wrong with it.
On the flipside of that, if your website is not working for you and your business, wouldn’t you want to know?
If you want to do some user testing of your website – or your competition’s website – call me TODAY on 02 4324 2594 to book a test in.
