Website designing is serious business. There are several things that you need to consider when developing your website. The difference between a well designed and a poorly designed website could cost you your business itself. Your website is your identity in the virtual world and a lot of thought needs to go into the designing process. Even though it is impossible to pinpoint the exact aspects that can make it a success, there are some do’s and don’ts that you might want to consider when envisioning your website.
Do’s When Designing Website:
- Make sure that your website is simple.
- Ensure that your website is compatible with all browsers.
- Your web pages need to be consistent throughout the website.
- Navigation must also be similar in all pages. It is less confusing.
- Your text should preferably be black on white background. If at all you prefer colours then make sure that the background colours are light and that the text is legible.
- Menus and search fields must enable the visitor to easily find what he/she is looking for.
- Files must be light and easy to download.
- Important information must be put on the first home page.
- Your logo and name must show up on every page.
- You must add a site map and it must be easily accessible from all web pages.
- The text needs to be justified as it makes it easy to read.
- Always ensure that you follow the ‘three click rule’, which means that the visitor must be able to find what he needs within just three clicks.
- Information that is similar can be grouped together.
- Keep your target market in mind when designing the website.
Don’ts When Designing Website:
- Do not use bandwidth heavy content like graphics, videos and so on. Not everyone has blazing fast internet and if sites don’t load fast, they will never be viewed.
- Don’t use music for your site. It takes longer to load and frankly it is just not necessary.
- Don’t use pop-ups unless they are absolutely necessary.
- Don’t use a moving background for your site. It makes it difficult to see the text.
- Don’t use too much colour in your website.
- Don’t include unnecessary links in your websites.
- If something is not a link, do not underline it. You may do it to emphasise the text but a viewer may think it is a link and be confused with the website’s other genuine links.
- Don’t use colourful ‘intros’ on the home page. No one likes it and they will only click on the ‘skip intro’ link.
- If there is material that you want your visitor to read, don’t use pictures there. It is distracting to the viewer.
- Don’t use ‘under construction’ pages. It is quite frustrating. Upload your website only when all the pages are complete or upload the ones that are complete but not the ‘under construction’ ones.
- Do not use different fonts for every webpage. Maintain a uniform style.
- Don’t make the pages wider than the regular browser window so that the viewer has to scroll on the bar to reach from one end to the other.
- Don’t over optimise the website in terms of SEO. Create user friendly navigation and layouts!
- Don’t use many links in your paragraphs.
There is no perfect website design, just like there is no perfect movie or a perfect song. But these do’s and don’ts are adhered to by professional website designers. As long as you follow them you will be able to design a very good website that will give a good web presence to your business venture.
About The Author:
This article was written by Joseph Hampten from EssayReviewo.com, an online writing service review portal. He writes about web designing and other topics as well.