Web Design - What is right? What is wrong?

Posted by on July 31st, 2007 at 12:06am

In this world of the Web, there are plenty of people out there to advise you about just about anything, including website design, but who says they are the authority that they claim to be? No one idea is always the right idea!

This is my belief; every person is different, so why should websites be the same? If you own a business, don’t you try to make it stand out from the rest? We all have our vision of what a perfect web design is but will anyone else agree with you? Does that even matter?

Yes, there are some basic rules that should be followed;

1. The pages should be legible, using a tiny font may get more text in a smaller space, but those of us with aged eyes, can’t read it! Using a “non-standard” font which may not be available to your visitors should be done as an image instead of text.
2. The colors should also be “eye friendly” in other words, text should have contrast from the background so that it can be read! This is my main complaint about many websites today, even if you have “x-ray” vision, there are many that don’t. Just remember that color is your friend, use it effectively and it will enhance your web design.

3. The layout should flow smoothly, that means don’t get your site visitors lost! The navigation process should be clear, many will use a landing page with just an “enter site here” link, but in my opinion that is just wasting a visitors time. Yes, maybe you will get an extra page view but they could just leave your site, I know that I do.
4. Know your visitors. If you have a website about home brewing, what does that visitor want? Are you selling homebrew supplies? If so, make it easy for them to find what they are looking for, things that are interesting to them.

5. Keep the file size down. Many of your visitors are going to still have dial-up ISP’s, so use photos wisely, a page full of images is giant and can take forever to load. Use links, or iframes to break it down and keep the file size down.

Other than that, let the site define your business, even if it is just a hobby, let the website be an extension of you. Are you a wild outgoing type of person? Don’t design a website suitable for a librarian to show who you are. Designing your website should be a personal thing, it is an extension of you and your business,

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