250 Free Business Cards the point of most website designers is to make an engaging, easily accessed and functional internet site that will persuade the visitor to do something. Making such an internet site needs good graphical design, simple and intuitive site navigation, logical site layout and good web copy. The following recommendations are general website design tenets.
Web Content
You need the visitor to see you as an informed info source and / or a credible business. Poor grammar and spelling will instantly scale back your credibility.
Remember that folk use the Net to find info. Whether or not you are selling your own product or counseling somebody else's products, you have to 1st provide valuable information to the visitor or they can click away and find a domain that gives them what they what they need.
Cross Browser Compatibility
There are at least 100 different browsers in use. You should design your internet site to work correctly in the most generally used browsers. To do that you can be unable to use all the really good CGI effects that are accessible because they might not be supported in most browsers. Although most net browsers are free, people don't mandatory trouble to go up to the newest versions. The average surfer might not know the way to upgrade their browser or have the approach, if it's working, don't fix it. Remember your visitor can have a P.C., a MAC, a Linux box, a PDA or a cellphone and all of them use different browsers. Good website design needs your internet pages to work in Microsoft Net Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera and Safari at a minimum. Validating your HTML code will help but the final test is to view your internet site in different browsers running on different platforms.
Graphics and Pictures
Surfers are impatient and studies prove that most folk will click away if a page takes more than ten seconds to load. Always optimise your stills and other graphic files to have as small a size as practicable without losing picture definition. Always use the height and width features on the picture so that the rest of the page can load while the graphic files is downloading. Use the ALT HTML tag so folk with graphics turned off and those using hand-held products know what the picture is meant to be.
Background Colours
If you use anything apart from white behind text, be certain to stipulate link colours or the user's browser defaults will figure out what color the links are which may possibly make them illegible.
Multimedia
Multimedia is made of flash films, video clips, audio clips and background music. Always use streaming media as it decreases download time. Ensure the visitor can stop and start multimedia files or in the case of flash introductions, skip them if they need. That way folk with slow connections or devices that do not support multi-media can pay no attention to them.
Also, put any critical info presented in multi media in text as well so that the visitor has accessibility to that info without multi media. If an add-on is wanted to use the multi media, always supply a link to it so that the user can install it. Ultimately, always remember the 10-second rule for site loading when deciding to use multi-media.
Site Navigation
Site navigation should be easy and intuitive. Research has demonstrated if a visitor can't access the info they desire inside 3 clicks, they'll leave the site. This is named the 3-click rule. Each area of your site should be reachable inside 3 clicks from any place else on the site. If you use anything apart from easy text links, make certain to test your navigation in all of the major browsers.
Links
Occasionally test all site links to be sure that they're valid. Nothing chases a visitor off quicker than damaged links. There are a few free web services which will intermittently test your links.
Frames
Avoid using frames, since they make it tough to bookmark individual pages on your site and you need folks to bookmark pages so they can come back.
Outline
Good site design is a combo of common-sense and good planning. Your internet site should be engaging and easy to utilize and most significantly provide the user with the info or services they desire. |