It’s important to periodically do usability testing on your website.

A low-tech way to this is simply to grab someone (not an employee), sit them down in front of your laptop with your website loaded, and give them tasks to do.

•    Find the butler tables
•    Find the dealers’ section
•    Try out the room planner
•    Find and download the 50% off coupon
•    Sign up for the newsletter
•    Fill out a contact form.

You may be surprised to find that tasks that seem obvious to you are not so obvious to your visitors.

According to Ben Jesson, Internet Marketing guru, a great place to find willing lab rats for web site testing is at coffee shops — especially airports.

At an airport, people are often bored while waiting for flights. If you approach them, and offer to buy them a cup of coffee, many will be happy to help you out.

Ask them for their honest feedback, not to be polite. Tell them you are looking to improve your site, so you need to know what works and what doesn’t.

What an easy and low-cost way to do usability testing and improve your website!

Easy Web Tip #54: Recruit strangers at coffee shops or airports to do web site testing in order to know how to best improve your site.