Design Dos and Dont's
Regardless of what software you use to build a website, there are some basic dos and don’ts you need to keep in mind. It's very easy to get carried away on your first site and do things that send visitors away which is most definitely not what you want to do.
When you build a website:
Things to do
- Do keep your web site simple. Don't cram it full of clutter. Unless it's a how-to site like this one, the less text, the better.
- Do make it eye pleasing. No crazy fonts or colors. The standard fonts for web sites are Arial, Verdana and Times New Roman. Whatever font you decide on, use it throughout your site. Don't alternate fonts.
- Do make sure visitors to your site can tell at a glance what your site is about. For example, if you sell widgets, make sure that’s evident right up front. Most people will leave in the first two seconds if they don’t think your site offers them what they are looking for. They aren’t going to take the time to scroll around to see if you have what they need. Make it immediately clear to them what your site is about.
Things not to do
- Don’t use a Flash introduction. Web designers love this and if you use a website builder they can be really fun to create, but most people click off as soon as they see it loading. The object is to get people to see your web site, not drive them away.
- Don’t put music or sound files on your site. It startles people when they are surfing and suddenly hear music blaring out. Their immediate reaction is to back track immediately.
- Don’t put a lot of slow-loading graphics on your page. No matter how pretty the graphics are, people aren’t going to stick around and wait for them to load. You can optimize your images for free at NetMechanic.com. What this means is that you load the image onto Net Mechanic's web page and they will condense the size of the image for you, then let you pick the image you like from the results. Usually you can reduce the size by 50% or more without there being a noticeable change in quality.
- Don’t use pop-ups on your web site. Visitors find these really annoying. The less you annoy a visitor, the more likely he or she is to stay.
Provided by 4 Creating a Website
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