I see it all the time: a great organization with a great mission ends up with a website that doesn't really accomplish anything. It's not engaging. It doesn't make people feel like they're part of something. It doesn't ask visitors to do anything (explicitly or implicitly).

That means every visitor is a wasted opportunity. Imagine you get 2,737 hits in a week. If your website isn't doing its job, that's 2,737 missed opportunities per week!

Just as you create goals for your own work, your website should create potential goals for your users. Here are some quick questions to use as a usability litmus test for your site:

What do you want people to accomplish? There are things you want visitors to do, whether it's sign up for the newsletter, or donate or volunteer. The idea is to make those goals clear and easy for the general audience.

Is there a clear hierarchy? Think about visual importance. Does the design play into the goals of the site? Do people know what actions/goals should be important to them and which ones at the most important?

Is it fun? People will take an action that's engaging and fun. Granted, it's difficult to incorporate fun into all tasks (looking at your bank statement isn't usually considered "fun," e.g.), but the more fun you can make it, the more likely people are to work a bit for the end result.

If you're setting up a website, or trying to figure out how to make yours better, taking some time to think these things through is well worth the end product.

Jared Marcotte is Lead Web Developer at NOI

Photo from Flickr user DRB62, shared under Creative Commons license