by Jackie Baker

Normal
0

false
false
false

MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

<object
classid=”clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D” id=”ieooui”>

st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }

<!–
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:2;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:”";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:615908334;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:18530768 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:1177816856;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1988694412 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l2
{mso-list-id:1240671303;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-968036690 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715 67698703 67698713 67698715;}
@list l2:level1
{mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l3
{mso-list-id:1620644402;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:1771453870 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l3:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l4
{mso-list-id:1742604846;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-1845230220 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l4:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
–>

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:”";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

One thing
you’ll hear me say over and over again in this column is that good usability
and design comes before optimization. It can be all too easy to market online
through optimization, link building, blogging, and social media ( to name a
few) and see that immediate upsurge in traffic, but not see any change in
conversions.

Today we’re
taking a look at AlaskaStock.com, a stock photography selling the rights to
gorgeous photos of this northern state.

AlaskaStock.com
has a great product to sell, and a decent process for doing it. However, the
site design and usability could use a little work prior to taking the next step
in online marketing. When you are offering a niche product in a common area, IE
stock photography, it’s helpful to take some cues from other successful
industry websites. After all, no good ideas are truly original. As long as you
don’t violate copyright, there’s no harm in rooting around and making use of
what works.

Elements of
Design
One of the main
usability pitfalls on the current AlaskaStock.com website is the lack of visual
contrast; blue and gray text is on top of a gray background, which will get
very washed out on varying monitors or for people who are color blind or have
vision problems. The blue, gray, and lighter gray color palette is very low
contrast, which causes all of the elements on each page to blend together.
Using colors with higher contrast will make the site easier to read, and make
it easier for visitors to distinguish the sections of each page (such as
navigation, content, search, etc).

Hierarchy
is another element of contrast that needs to be addressed on this website. The
eye should be given a specific path to follow based on size, color, placement,
and style of elements. A few key elements that need to stand out on every page
are the site name and navigation. There is not enough contrast in size and
color on AlaskaStock.com for visitors to be able to find these elements easily.

AlaskaStock.com
has done a good job of using consistent styles and color across the website. In
general, however, the fonts need to be bigger and the colors need more
contrast.

Comparison:
Take a look at JupiterImages.com, for example. This popular stock photography
site has a simple, yet very contrasting design. The white, dark gray, and cyan
blue are simple yet effective in making text, navigation, and primary elements
pop off the page. It is well designed, drawing attention to the three primary
sections: 1. the header with site name and navigation 2. left sidebar with
image search 3. content area with image results or instructions.

Navigation
Logical,
easy to find and follow navigation is critical to good usability. While it’s
great that AlaskaStock.com has multiple ways for visitors to navigate to
information, it is spread out and hard to find on the page. On the homepage
alone there are 5 different ways to navigate:

• Global horizontal bar with
  contact, help, my account, etc
• Left sidebar with option to
  browse by popular searches
• Search bar in header
• Four vertical feature boxes on
  the left side of the content area
• A horizontal navigation list
  underneath the large homepage image.

The problem
here is that there are too many navigation options and that they are difficult
to locate. They are not indicated consistently visually and their placement is
pretty random within the overall design. I would strongly recommend that
AlaskaStock.com do some major housekeeping. Go through the website and figure
out all of the content that is available, and think through a logical way to re-organize
it much more simply.

Tags: alaska, alaskastock, analytics, content, design, design-idea, guide, jackie-baker, keywords, marketing, newsletters, search, search-engine, search-engine-guide, seo, site, small-business, so-use-it, social-media