Big Ahha

When it comes to designing, building, and writing for a website, findability is often an afterthought to things like search engine optimization and usability. Instead, findability should be a core concern throughout every step of the website development process.

A website that ignores findability is whispering into the wind, hoping that someone passing by might catch a hint of its message.

Aarron Walter, author of “Building Findable Websites: Web Standards, SEO, and Beyond,” has penned an excellent article for A List Apart on findability and the importance of giving findability proper consideration during each step of building a website.

Mr. Walter defines findability as the ability to help people…

• find the websites they seek,
• find content within websites, and
• rediscover valuable content they’d found.

Whether you are creating a marketing website to attract new readers/customers, an e-commerce site to sell your goods, or a web-based application for simplifying a process, the concept of findability should be part of the very basic goal of your website. Even if you are putting together a web page for yourself to organize your mp3 collection, don’t you want to be able to easily find Neil Young when you want to hear “Cinnamon Girl?”

The important thing with findability is that it shouldn’t be the last thing you think of, or something left to the designer to work into the user interface. Instead, as Mr. Walter points out, findability needs the support of Project Managers, Information Architects, Copywriters, Designers, Developers, and Usability Experts throughout the entire website development process. As is the case at Big Ahha, one person might be handling the duties of several of those job titles. Regardless, a focus on findability should be integrated into each phase of the process.

The benefit is having a website that reaches your target audience, helps people find what they are looking for once they get there, and keeps those people coming back. Don’t give the proper attention to findability and you’ll just be leaving people feeling Helpless and Burned (those are Neil Young songs in case you didn’t catch the reference. Neil Young rocks… in a mellow kind of way. You can find him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame).