Website designers do not intentionally wish to frustrate users and leave them confused on the web pages they create. As a web designer, this is the last thing you would want to do. You can create mature web pages to gratify various needs of different web users. The three click rule is the official web design rule that has been around for ages. The rule suggests that on a particular website, the user should be able to find the information he is looking for, in no more than three mouse clicks. Practically this is easy to achieve. Before creating a website, you can work on basic elements that make up a website.
The key elements that you need to take care of while creating a website are:
- Content
- Pictures, Graphics and Animation
- Layout
- Advertisement
1. Content
Create professional content
For many users, the Internet is their one stop solution for information. As a website designer, you should be responsible enough to churn out information that sounds professional on the web. You must avoid beating around the bush. Always publish content that is plagiarism free. The more value your content has the more liked your website will be.
Content readability
Ensure that you do not write long sentences. Such sentences are difficult to read. You do not have to fill the web page with a lot of sentences and paragraphs. Look for simple ways to convey content. This adds the readability value to your website.
Watch the fonts you use
You can have quality content. The choice of fonts you use on your website can distract users. Make your webpage printer friendly by using the right fonts. Sans serif fonts have less screen resolution and this makes them easy to read on computer monitors. You can use fonts like Arial, Geneva, Verdana, Rockwood LT Standard and Helvetica among other such popularly used fonts. Limit the number of fonts that you use to 2 or 3 on your webpage.
2. Pictures, Graphics and Animation
A picture speaks a thousand words. You have to make sure that the picture, graphic or animation you place on your website goes well with the content. The choice of picture, graphic or animation that you use makes a lot of difference. Do not use audio that distracts the image or animation.
Do not use pop-up windows on your website
Pop-up windows are the best mediums to convey a message to a web user. At the same time, while reading from a webpage, a user can be distracted by a pop-up window. As a website creator, you should use a pop-up window only when it is necessary.
3. Layout
Stick to standard layouts
It is better to stick to standard layouts. It is not wise to experiment with layouts for webpages. Do not make users scroll from left to right to view the webpage. This will only make visitors jump to another website which has a friendly layout. One of the most popular layouts is the 3 column layout. This layout used in newspapers and magazines is popular on the web platform as well. This kind of layout helps web users read web pages with ease.
4. Advertisement
While watching a show on television, you would not like watching too many commercials right? The same holds good for websites as well. If you have too many advertisements on your webpage, visitors will not be comfortable reading your webpage content. The ideal content and advertisement ratio is believed to be 3:1. Do not be greedy to accommodate too many advertisements on your webpage. They will distract visitors.
These are a few tips that you could follow while developing your website to make it click.