Findability
Findability is a concept that can be applied to information on and off the web. It refers to the ease or difficulty of finding information. This is particularly important to web designers who need to the content on their websites to be searchable and easily accessed. Findability goes hand-in-hand with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because the search spiders have to find a user’s requests in order to return information in a search.
The architecture of a website can help or hurt findability of content on that websites. Architecture refers to how organized information is on a page. Related content should be easy to find and the site should be easy to navigate. Navigation should be intuitive not confusing. An information architect specializes in organizing the information so that is user friendly from a findability standpoint. To test this several users might be asked to perform a task while under observation. Information architects use these experiments to collect data on performance, accuracy, recall, and emotional response.
Although testing on actual people is critical to accessing how "findable" content is, in the age of the internet it is just as important to test how easy it is for a search engine to locate information. High ranking in organic search is certainly one of the most reliable indicators of findability. Since most people use search engines to find information on the internet, effective search engine optimization is ultimately improving usability. All web developers should make search engine optimization a number one priority, by creating well-architected sites with relevant information.
The architecture of a website can help or hurt findability of content on that websites. Architecture refers to how organized information is on a page. Related content should be easy to find and the site should be easy to navigate. Navigation should be intuitive not confusing. An information architect specializes in organizing the information so that is user friendly from a findability standpoint. To test this several users might be asked to perform a task while under observation. Information architects use these experiments to collect data on performance, accuracy, recall, and emotional response.
Although testing on actual people is critical to accessing how "findable" content is, in the age of the internet it is just as important to test how easy it is for a search engine to locate information. High ranking in organic search is certainly one of the most reliable indicators of findability. Since most people use search engines to find information on the internet, effective search engine optimization is ultimately improving usability. All web developers should make search engine optimization a number one priority, by creating well-architected sites with relevant information.
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