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| SANMetrix |  | | R2 Dzigns was commissioned to design a complete product identity including letterhead, presentation folders, CD-ROM and cardboard sleeve in preparation for their new software launch. | | Design and Printed by R2 Dzigns | |
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Ten Most Important Web Design Tips |
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Sunday, 12 September 2004 |
These are the 10 things are important to consider when creating a web site. Always consider browser compatibility, user friendliness against technology. Also remember, if you are designing a business website you want your site to look professional.
They are in no particular order:
1. Blue on Black is NOT Good
Not only blue text on a black background but any colour (with the exception of white) on a black background, light text on white backgrounds or dark text on dark backgrounds just do NOT work! It is very important that any text is easy to read and doesn't hurt people's eyes.
2. Java applets, animated images or under construction signs
Don't bother putting 'Eye Candy' on your site such as java clocks and menus with sounds. Unless you wrote the code yourself, it won’t make you look clever and doesn’t enhance your site. Some browsers don't support them either so it really isn't worth it. Use of animated GIFs actually detracts from your content, and does not enhance your site, because it draws visitor’s attention away from your content not to mention they look unprofessional.
If your site isn’t ready yet, don’t put it up and have half of the pages contain Under Construction messages. Use of “ under construction signs” on a website, be it pure text or worse animated graphic looks totally unprofessional. Websites are by nature works in progress and the majority of Internet users understand this fact. You are far better putting up a single page with the name of the company, brief description and provide contact details until the site has been completed.
3. Popup Window!!! Ack…I’m gone
One of the most annoying things on websites, both personal and semi-professional ones, is pop-up windows! Instead of getting visitors to continue reading your site, you may actually turn them away as pop-up windows can be extremely annoying. If you choose to use a free web host and they provide the choice to have either a banner in a popup window or one at the top of the page, choose the one on the page. It may create some design challenges but as so many people dislike pop-ups it is the better option. If your web host only offers popup advertisement windows, it may be time to find a new hosting service provider.
4. Adverts by the bucket load
Far too many sites have copious quantities advertisements, many of which have no connection to the content of the site! You open the page and 2 banners are at the top, then some text followed by a couple of affiliate search boxes, then more text, then another type of affiliate program and finally the page is finished with 4 different banners at the bottom. While it may be tempting to have advertisements to try and make more money, however, 2 or 3 highly targeted adverts will make you more money and your visitors won't give up and leave, either. Learn more about making money from your site.
5. Hide that counter!
While it is important to know how many visitors you receive to your site, it is not important to provide this information to your visitors and potential clients. If you have had very few visitors people may be lead to believe that on your site will think it the site does not contain useful content and leave. On the other hand, if you have a lot of visitors then people won't really care about how many visitors you've had. It is better to use a good tracking service or hiding your counter. More information regarding good counters or site statistic software.
6. Help….I’m lost…where is the information I want
It is imperative that visitors to your site can easily find the information that they are seeking. A very common mistake, when designing a web site, is to think that visitors will instinctively know where to find the information that they require. Visitors wont know how you placed each piece of information and may think differently to you. Visitors need to be shown precisely where to find the information they are seeking. Try using descriptive links, always include an obvious link back to your homepage and a sitemap. If you have a large site, with a lot of information, consider including a search function. This is not difficult to set up and you can get free site searches are available from sites such as Atomz or Google.
7. Don't keep changing things
When designing a web site, the first thing you should remember is to maintain a consistent design. The only page that should be different is the main page and even then there should still be a consistent look and feel to the other pages. If you keep moving around your site's navigation or if every page is completely different from the others, your visitors will get confused. They may even think that they have left your site or won’t be able to find the link back to the home page.
8. I am not interested in your awards
One mistakes that a many sites, especially smaller ones, make is to include relatively unknown awards that the website has won. Quite often these unknown awards have no real value and in some instances, anyone who submits a website will receive an award. However, it is different situation if the award is a widely recognised, business related award or qualification such as Telstra business award or ISO rating.
9. Don’t be afraid of white space….don't over crowd the screen
A very important thing to do when designing your website is to leave a bit of space. While screen space is precious and you should try and make the best use of it, you should also attempt to leave some blank space. Leave margins, use shorter paragraphs and don't fill up the screen with animated GIFs. Your site will look cleaner, more open and professional if you allow free space.
10. Make Your Site Sticky
Ultimate goal is to have all visitors to stay on your site longer, view more pages and of course keep coming back. You can achieve this if your users find the content on your site useful. Some ways of making your site 'sticky' like this is to have regularly updated content as well as offering a newsletter, bulletin board.
If you would require further assistance with designing your website or would prefer someone to design the website for you, please contact R2 Dzigns.
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