If you run any sort of e-commerce site you must read The $300 million button by Jared Spool. The lesson to be learned is that it is very important to examine how your customers (or potential customers) use your site and what they like and dislike about it.
What do you know about your customers? Have you ever watched someone trying to buy something off your website? Do you know what frustrates them and what causes them to go buy from another site? These are the sort of questions a usability expert is interested in. Once they have answers to these are questions they can help you do something to fix any usability problems.
If you take a DIY approach to your online presence and want to find out more I suggest you start with Jakob Nielson’s Usability 101 and Top 10 mistakes of web design. These can highlight some generic problems that your site may have.
If you would like to discuss usability or other issues in website design and development please contact Get Noticed Online.