This has been said many times, but still needs to be repeated: clearly tell users what they can expect to get out of the site. Too often, sites have valuable content and features to offer, yet users simply click their "back" buttons and never get beyond the home page.

Take epicurious.com as an example. This site can provide a wide variety of benefits to people interested in cooking. It attempts to serve as a central source for everything related to cooking and eating. It provides recipes and information about food, and sells cookware. But when users first encounter the busy Home Page (shown below) with all its choices, they may not understand how they can benefit from the site. The subtitle, "for people who eat," while amusing, does little to explain the site. Epicurious could likely retain more users if they added some descriptive text under the site name, such as:

"Your destination for everything related to cooking and eating - recipes, cooking tips, information about food, and kitchen equipment - it's all here."

• Make it easy for users to do what you want them to do
  ...and make it clear! Many sites clutter their pages with so many ads and options that the user misses the page's main objective.  (Click here for an example.)

• Make sure most users can see the most important elements on the page without scrolling
  The most important elements should be located in the upper left-hand corner of the page, since that is the area that can even be seen by users with small monitors. Note that a very large number of users view the World Wide Web using America Online's browser, which appears on users' screens as a window within a window; users therefore view a smaller area than with a regular browser.  (Click here for an example.)

• Use easy-to-understand, unequivocal language; avoid "technospeak"
  Web designers tend to use technical terms; make sure your Web site uses language that its users will understand. And make sure users can anticipate the result of clicking on a link.  (Click here for an example.)

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