Basic Web Design Tips

[seotips]

Don't bother with splash pages.
A splash page is normally a pointless page people put on their websites as an introduction. The page normally contains some sort of image on with a big click here to enter sign, or sometimes people don't say anything and just hope you will click on the picture to enter their site. Splash pages are fairly pointless and it is just creating more work for your visitor as they have to click the mouse button an extra time just to see the content of your site. By removing the splash page the visitor can get to see the best parts of your site straight away, without having to wait for a pointless page to load.

Keep your navigation simple.
To put it simply if your navigation is too complicated and people don't understand how to get around your site this is a huge web design fault. If a visitor doesn't know how to navigate around your site they will get frustrated and end up leaving. Keep your navigation simple and try to avoid using scripts or complicated flash based menus, not all browsers support scripts, so some of your visitors might be missing out on important.

Keep your paragraphs reasonable readable lengths.
Although having lots of relative and informative content on your website is good, it is a bad idea to have the blocks of text to big. Not everyone likes reading and to much can deter a visitor. If you keep your paragraphs in reasonable lengths it is much easier for a visitor to read and absorb.

Style it with CSS.
Make sure your text is readable by using a standard font which is compatible with other systems. While some fonts may look good on your computer other people might not have that font installed. It is good web design practice to use CSS when building you site. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are a perfect way to set and adjust your websites font and size settings. The great thing about using CSS is that you can change the look of your whole site simply by editing the one file.

Test your website using other browsers.
When you are building your site and still in the web design stage it is important to check how it looks on other browsers, just because it looks fine in internet explorer doesn't mean it looks good on Firefox or Opera. Many people use different browsers and if your site looks a complete mess then you will loose that visitor for good. You can check your websites web design to ensure it complies with the web standards at the w3.org website. Testing the pages using the w3 validation tool will help you make sure it is compatible with other browsers.

Article Author: A Barrow
Article Source: Depositarticles.com

[ipshwitz]

Don't bother with splash pages.
I couldn't disagree with this any more than by simply stating this is outdated. In the days when dial-up was king, splash pages were given a bad name because of flash intros and slow loading times. HOWEVER splash pages are a great way to help increase search engine performance. Splash pages are like the cover letter on a resume or a thesis of a report. When used correctly they are an essential tool to really getting the viewers attention. I would reccomend writing a cookie though so that return visitors bypass it their 2nd time. Now, I'm not saying a Splash page is right for every single situation. But they are a great tool (again, when used correctly)

Keep your navigation simple.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that 1. Your navigation should NEVER move and 2. You should be able to get to anywhere on your site within 3 clicks. If it's more than 3 clicks, you'll lose 65% of your visitors. IF you have a graphic based navigation, be sure to include a text base navigation somewhere else on the page (normally very bottom) for those few people who have graphics turned off.

Keep your paragraphs reasonable readable lengths.
Also keep in mind that paragraphs should be in a Serif font. The serifs allows the eyes to keep moving in a fluid motion and makes readibility much better. Do not use a Verdana or Arial font for a paragraph. Paragraphs should be written in the way you talk. Much like a conversation between two people. Also, this isn't a high school term paper people - skip the double space after a sentence. (yes, i know i do it...)

Style it with CSS.
- Yeh, nothing to say about this... CSS saves so much time. However, I'd like to add that using include files sparingly helps save a lot of time and allows for mass updates with just one file. These are usually reserved for the Header and Footer sections.

Test your website using other browsers.
Ok, let's look at this here: 92.67% of all internet browsers are IE. Firefox makes up 6% and Opera makes up less than 0.5% (stats based off statistics on 4 major sites pulling in more than 15,000 visitors a month).

I've read other stuff by this guy (or someone with the same last name) and it's all pretty much outdated. Usually referring to concepts based on pre-broadband.

[bendix]

Don't bother with splash pages.
A splash page is normally a pointless page people put on their websites as an introduction. The page normally contains some sort of image on with a big click here to enter sign, or sometimes people don't say anything and just hope you will click on the picture to enter their site. Splash pages are fairly pointless and it is just creating more work for your visitor as they have to click the mouse button an extra time just to see the content of your site. By removing the splash page the visitor can get to see the best parts of your site straight away, without having to wait for a pointless page to load.

Keep your navigation simple.
To put it simply if your navigation is too complicated and people don't understand how to get around your site this is a huge web design fault. If a visitor doesn't know how to navigate around your site they will get frustrated and end up leaving. Keep your navigation simple and try to avoid using scripts or complicated flash based menus, not all browsers support scripts, so some of your visitors might be missing out on important.

Keep your paragraphs reasonable readable lengths.
Although having lots of relative and informative content on your website is good, it is a bad idea to have the blocks of text to big. Not everyone likes reading and to much can deter a visitor. If you keep your paragraphs in reasonable lengths it is much easier for a visitor to read and absorb.

Style it with CSS.
Make sure your text is readable by using a standard font which is compatible with other systems. While some fonts may look good on your computer other people might not have that font installed. It is good web design practice to use CSS when building you site. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are a perfect way to set and adjust your websites font and size settings. The great thing about using CSS is that you can change the look of your whole site simply by editing the one file.

Test your website using other browsers.
When you are building your site and still in the web design stage it is important to check how it looks on other browsers, just because it looks fine in internet explorer doesn't mean it looks good on Firefox or Opera. Many people use different browsers and if your site looks a complete mess then you will loose that visitor for good. You can check your websites web design to ensure it complies with the web standards at the w3.org website. Testing the pages using the w3 validation tool will help you make sure it is compatible with other browsers.

Article Author: A Barrow
Article Source: Depositarticles.com

That si a great article about basic on web design tips... yeah, sesting the pages using the w3 validation tool will help make sure it is compatible with other browsers.





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Indianapolis Web Design

[rocket55]

Very good post on web design tips. You really laid it all out there. I also agree to style it with CSS. good tips.

[nordy]

Good Tips!