| Guide to good web design |
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The web is full of ideas. The thing with ideas though is that they are not always as clever as they first seem. I find that most clients like to have a site that really pops out of the web. Something inspirational and captivating that designed to make people want to see more. The first thing they ask for is brilliant animated graphics, flashy displays and even background music. The trouble is, this sort of display, while pretty, is far from effective. In this article I want to look at some of the basic principles of good web design in the hope of helping clients and others to come up with good realistic concepts for a productive web site.
What's your website for? The basic purpose of a website is to communicate your ideas out to the world at large. Communication is the key point here. Most people searching the web take about 10 seconds to decide if they want to look further into your site or not. This is a vital thing to understand and it forms the very basis of a successful site. the first thing for you to decide is this; If you have 10 seconds to present the concept of your entire website, what do you want them to know? Whatever the answer to that question is, that's your first page.
What's on the First Page If you have a logo, use it. It's an important part of your identity and even if you are not a business it's still a valuable thing to develop for your site. You will also want a nice header of tag line that sums up what you are about. Keep it simple and clear. You also want a short piece of text that introduces your site concept. In this text you want to be concise and to the point because people don't want to waste their time reading their life story, they first of all need to know if you are worth any of their time at all.
Images are also important as a picture can be worth more than a thousand words but only if that picture actually relates to your site contents. I'm constantly amazed by the number of people who want to put up pictures that are meaningful to them but are totally unreated to the site itself. Unless you are creating an online family album then keep the pictures related to the subject. For some businesses, especially service industry, a picture of you can be good because it shows you are up front and honest, not hiding behind the web.
One last vital component is a easy way for your clients to get more information from your site if they want too. Normally a simple menu system works well. You can get more creative but do not get so creative that navigating your site is like solving a puzzle, even if you are a site selling puzzles it won't do you any good if the client cannot find out how to see your shopping cart. So keep it clear.
About Animated Graphics Many people think that the easiest way to get noticed is to have a fancy animated picture. There was a trend in the early to mid 2000s of having the first page just one big flash animated picture but this trend has thankfully died out. Here's the reason why. Remember, you have about 10 seconds to grab their attention. Not everyone has the same internet connection you do, some people will be slower. Now, if all they see in that 10 seconds is a loading bar guess what? You just lost them. Same goes for any animated picture, it takes time to load and the more animation it has and the larger the picture the more time it takes to load. Having something small to compliment the text is a great idea, just keep it small and simple.
Site Structure and Navigation Here's an important trick. Your client should be able to reach any part of your site from any other part of your site within about 3 clicks of the mouse. Even once you've hooked them and have them looking at your site you still have to keep them. The best way to keep your client reading is to keep the information clear and easy to find. You cannot know how their mind will process the information you've provided so you cannot assume that one point logically leads to the next point. Instead, your site has to be able to jump from point to point easily.
The method of navigation is also critical. Fancy poop up menus look great, but only if your computer and browser supports the methods used to make that pop up. There are few standards on the web and many is the time I couldn't navigate through a site because my browser wouldn't play nice with their site so links just wouldn't work. I have often left a site simply because they demanded I use a particular type of browser. Don't make people choose, use a method that's simple and universal. Mostly this means sticking with the simple word driven navigation bar. However, though the method might be simple it's easy to dress up the navigation bar in many creative ways without complicating it's core function.
Site Contents One common mistake I see on many sites is to overload people with information. Keep the pages clear of clutter and maintain a clear focus for your site. If you want all sorts of add on information that not directly related then make use of subdomains or other addresses which can usually be added to your site for free or at least cheaply. By keeping things tidy you help people find what they are there for. Do make use of graphics to break up your text. Many people these days just won't read huge blocks of text so keep it light and make use of space to display related pictures.
Be careful about adding too many plug ins. Plug ins are special little add on features like calendars, forums, chat boxes etc. these are perfectly appropriate to many sites but are often added 'because it would be cool' without any thought for how it will be used. Chat boxes and guest books are often filled with spam which makes the site look terrible and they need to be constantly maintained to keep clearing out the junk which takes time. Other poorly made plugins can be exploited by hackers to gain access to your site. So only use what you need to and keep any plugins you have updated to ensure they are as secure as possible.
About Search Engines First of all you never ever need to pay to have your site listed with the popular search engines and people who charge for that service are just plain dishonest. Search Engines constantly wander the web looking for new content so your site will be found providing you don't do anything to conceal it. One important thing to do is make sure that the words important to your site are in plain text, not concealed in pictures. Search Engines can read text, they cannot read the contents of a picture. There are two main things modern search engines look for on a site.
1. The frequency of the words being used If your site makes regular mention of some product then the search engine will assume your site is about that product. I know it might seem like a no brainer but if you are trying to sell something then by all means include lots of pretty pictures but make sure those pictures are accompanied by key words. 2. How many other people link to you If you site is linked to by many other sites then obviously there is worthwhile information there. This has meant that many sites try to elevate their position on search engines by doing Link Exchanges, where they link to your site in exchange for you linking to their site. This is fine for general social sites but can be a problem for business sites as it also means linking to a competitor which might loose you a client. Seek out other places where you can leave links such as through free advertising and free notice boards.
Summary
The bottom line is that all sites will have their faults and trends change that can make a good site not so great. You always have the option of adapting the site later. Just keep a check on it and update things as needed.
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