Web development can be a tricky part of having a functional and useable website, especially if your target market hasn’t grown up knowing they can just Google any question they have or feeling that spending hours on Intagram is a great way to spend the evening. Regardless of the industry to which you belong—whether you’re targeting snowbirds for real estate or veterans for memorabilia—understanding how to design your website for older generations is vital. To help you get it right, here are three tips to get you there.
Use the Right Photos and Images of People
Providing photos of your products is a great way to appeal to an older generation, but you can get an even better response if you’re able to actually showcase someone from your target demographic using your product or service in a positive light. According to Mark Dolliver of AdWeek, having your photo models look vibrant and involved is much more important than having them look young. So rather than finding models who are 10 to 15 years younger than your target market, look for those with expressive faces that light up when using your product or service.
Get Your Font the Right Size
Having your font in the most readable size isn’t just for websites aimed at the 65+ crowd. Many people have issues with reading small font sizes on a screen, necessitating a readjustment of what we think the “standard font size” should be with regards to digital writing.
To best accomplish a readable website, Derek of SocialTriggers.com recommends for websites to choose a simple font to use universally throughout their website and to choose a slightly bigger size than 12 point. Going with a 14 point or even a 16 point font can help your website not scare away visitors who may have a more difficult time reading 12 point, especially if the main demographic coming to your page is of an older generation.
Test It On Your Target Market
The best way to truly know if your website is appealing and working well for an older audience is to have it put to the test. After you’ve made the adjustments you think necessary to appeal to those over 65 years old, find someone in this demographic to test out your site.
According to Molly McHugh of Wired.com, there is even a business called TheUserIsMyMom that you can hire to have an actual 64 year-old mother run through your website to see what she likes about the user experience and what she doesn’t. Getting this type of feedback can be invaluable prior to launching a site that requires great UX for an older generation.
Just because you’re creating a website meant to be used by Baby Boomers doesn’t mean you need to dumb it down. Simply make a few adjustments based off the tips mentioned above to have a great website offering your older visitors an amazing online experience.
Originally posted on November 16, 2015 @ 8:36 pm