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Web Design
Here are some basic web design tips which may be of use to those of you new to web design and development.
If you're not sure what makes a good web design, have a look around and see what you like as a user,
which sites do you regularly return to, what makes them look professional? Which sites do you avoid,
do you return to slow loading sites, do pop-up ads bother you?
Always think of your users, what do they want to see, what do they want to buy, what will encourage them to return?
The best web sites are those that are simple and to the point. Good content is the most important thing,
that's what the users are there for. Avoid slow loading pages, spelling and grammatical errors, serif fonts, flash intros,
and pop-ups.
Another important factor when designing web sites is search engine optimisation. How will anyone find your site if it's not on
the first or second page of search engine results? Search engine optimisation is crucial but it's not always an easy task.
Follow our basic guidelines to search engine optimisation to help improve your ranking.
Slow Loading Pages
Slow loading pages are site killers. Pages generally load slowly due to a large number of images
(or large images) and animations on a page. The easiest way to be sure your pages load quickly for
your visitors is to check your html editor. Most html editors will show you the size of your page
and the estimated number of seconds it will take to download. Check this speed for both dial up and
adsl as many people still use dial up to access the web. Most users won't wait more than 8 seconds
for a page to download so aim to be well below this.
Proof Read
Correct spelling and grammar is extremely important. Any mistakes will look careless and
unprofessional. Always check and double check your spelling and grammar before uploading pages
to your web site. Most html editors have built in spell checking, use it. If you're not
confident in your abilities then have someone check it for you.
Fonts
Avoid serif fonts such as Times New Roman as these are regarded as unsuitable for the web.
Using sans serif fonts such as Verdana, Helvetica, and Arial is more appropriate as they are
easier to read on a computer screen and will result in a more professional look for your site.
Try to avoid using blue fonts and underlined text for anything other than a link as this may confuse
your users. Keep your font size at around 11 or 12 pixels.
Flash
Flash animation can look great but be careful it doesn't overwhelm the page and put off your users.
If you're going to use a Flash animation, don't set it to run continuously, once is enough.
Flash intros are generally regarded as a waste of time but if you must have one, be sure to have
a skip intro link for those who just want to go straight to the site (most people).
Pop-Ups
Don't be tempted to put pop-ups on your site, they're annoying. Most people hate them and some will
immediately leave your site, never to return. They're not worth the trouble.
Music
Don't put music that plays automatically on your site. It takes too long to load and odds are the
user won't agree with your taste in music. If you really want to include music then give the user an
option to turn music on, not an option to turn it off.
Patterned Backgrounds
Unusual backgrounds are distracting and can make your text hard to read. Professional sites
usually use white backgrounds for the main body of the pages. You can't go wrong with white.
Contact Details
Put your contact details on your site. Would you trust a
site without this? Would you buy from a site knowing you won't be able to contact someone if
something goes wrong? It doesn't take much time to do but it's important and don't forget to keep
your details up to date.
Browser Compatibility
Not all web pages display the same way in all browsers. Before going live with your web site, be sure
to check how it looks in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape Navigator and make any necessary
changes.
Descriptive Page Titles
Descriptive page titles are useful to improve your search engine ranking but also help users find your
site again if they have previously bookmarked it. It is the page title which is used as the default name
when you bookmark a site or add it to your favourites. If the name of your site is Cheap Web Templates
then put Cheap Web Templates in the title.
Consistent Layout
Keep your banners, logs, and navigation bars in the same place on every page as well as the buttons on
your navigation bar in the same order. This helps your users get to where they want to go and avoids
confusion. The best way to do this is to create a template for your site. Set up your page with your logo
and navigation bars etc, things that won't change from page to page, make the blank area editable, and
then save this page as a template. From then on, when you create a new page, use this template and add
info to the editable region. The other benefit of a template is that if you decide to make a change to
your navigation bar, for example, then you only need to make a change to the template and all other pages
based on that template will be updated. This results in much quicker and accurate web design.
Maintenance
Don't let the little things slip such as the copyright date on pages. Make sure you update the date at
the beginning of the year, otherwise it looks unprofessional and people may think the site is no longer
in use. If you have a latest news page, make sure the news is recent. If there has been no news in the
last year then is it really worth having?
Backup
Don't throw away a great web design by not backing up your work. Most people don't bother with backing up until they lose their work. Don't find yourself in that
situation. Get a few blank CDs and get into the habit of backing up everyday. That's right, everyday.
If you're working on your computer on a regular basis and then it dies and you have to go back to your
backup from a week ago or a month ago, imagine how much work you will have lost. It only takes a few
minutes to do a backup, don't forget.
More Information
For more web design tips we recommend the Site Point forums where you can read relevant posts or post your own questions.
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