What is usability?
Usability measures the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a a Web site.
Usability, as defined by Joseph Dumas and Janice (Ginny) Redish, means that people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their tasks.
According to Jakob Neilsen's research:
User testing shows that business-to-business websites have substantially lower usability than mainstream consumer sites. If they want to convert more prospects into leads, B2B sites should follow more guidelines and make it easier for prospects to research their offerings.
The problem is that many B2B sites are stuck in the 1990's when it comes to usability, and their expectations for the website. By focusing the design internally they leave customers with unanswered questions, and prevent the user from finding the information that they are looking for. This does not lead to the overall goal of any business website - Conversion.
According to the research B2B websites lag behind overall in conversion, with on average only 58% of users able to complete their goals on a given website. The B2C (business to consumer industry) is significantly better with 66% of their users able to complete their goals. The truth is, there is alot more at stake with B2B, and this is a clear area that needs to be developed.
A B2B site should -support the many other stages of the buying process besides the add to cart -- including the post-sales stages, which are crucial to customers' long-term brand loyalty. In fact, many complex products require supplies, spare parts, or other consumables that are perfectly suited to traditional e-commerce.
In addition, B2B sites should be considered lead generators. Prospects use websites during their initial research and stick with the helpful sites during subsequent research.
Areas for improvement
The area for the greatest improvement is to open up your B2B Website. Instead of requiring users to register for something to get access to a portion of your site, allow them in. Even product support documents which are considered post sale information, can be of great use to a potential customer. Again, making the information availible puts you ahead of your competitors.
Pricing - When B2B Customers are shopping around it helps them to know a price range that they should expect. This allows them to quickly decide if the product that you supply is what they are looking for. Truth is, you are going to have great difficulty with a lead for a customer who expects your product to cost $1,000 when in reality it starts $50,000. Perhaps they are looking for a different level of product. This is an area that B2C has a great advantage in, because they are often selling homogenous goods at a set price.
According to the Neilsen research, when users were asked to prioritize which of 28 types of B2B site information mattered most to them, prices scored the highest by far (29% higher than product availability, which ranked second).
It's time to have a closer look at how B2B utilizes the internet to improve ROI, and generate Sales. When you are ready for improvement, Contact Us for more information, and a Free Website Analysis. | 
