Website Design Basic Concepts

So, what's in a website design anyway? And, how do you get a design that is appealing to the broad and varied tastes of all those Internet surfers out there?

This is critical. Your website design is the first impression you make on your customers and visitors. There are a few sites in my favorites and bookmarks that I consider poorly designed. I still have them, because they have information I want. Lucky for the site owner that their content was that good! But one day I will find another site with the same information and a better design. Then guess who will be in my favorites and who will be left out? Maybe your content is great too, but don't take chances on a poor design. Think how much more repeat traffic and referred traffic you will get if you have both great content and great design.

Design Taste Varies - OK, design is a matter of taste and target audience to some degree. What looks good to one visitor may not be so great to another. Here we have the old adage of "one man's trash is another man's treasure". But there are solid basics that go into good site design. Creating a distinctive visual style and applying it consistently is the best way to bind a series of subjects and web pages together.

Layouts - The layout of your site is an important design element. A webpage is a document, plain and simple. It is like formatting a letter, an outline, a report, or an advertisement. Establish a layout grid and a style for handling your text and graphics, then stick with it to build a consistent rhythm and unity across all the pages of your site. Make it easy to follow, pleasing to the eye. Learn to use tables and nested tables, lists, and even well designed frames for controlling layouts.

Color - Color has a lot to do with target audience as well. What appeals to a teenager may not work with a target audience of baby-boomers, and so forth. But anybody can appreciate color coordination. Color coordination can be learned. Yes, it's a lot easier if you have a natural "knack" for these things, but you can learn basic color coordination techniques that make the difference between "tacky, yuk!!!" and "soothing to the eye".

Safe Colors - Everyone does NOT have 16 million colors on their computer. Learn to use the websafe 216 colors. Notice that's 216 colors, not 256 colors. This is a matter of video card capability and you are at the mercy of the viewer's personal computer system. Your best bet is to stick to 6 x 6 x 6 bit color resolution (216 colors) to cover the majority of Internet users. The 216 color palette gives you plenty for design options. Sure, not as many as 256 colors or 16 million, but still plenty to accomplish what you want or need to do with color.

Page Load Time - Now I'll be the first person to admit that I have made *personal* web pages which have large graphics or music .wav files and other things that take awhile to load. The point here is, they are my personal websites, *not* my professional or commercial websites. I may use these long loading pages for demo-ing several techniques, or chatting with friends and other developers, but never never never for professional site design (unless my client insists, in which case I do not use their site as a demo to other potential clients!). This doesn't mean you have to give up everything on professional sites. It just means take it easy, use only one high-load-time element or two, learn to compress your graphics properly, and if you've got that much "stuff" then break it up into more than one page.

Don't Overdo IT - A typical mistake among developers is to overdo it when putting together a website. Try to use extras in moderation. Some common things that get overused are:

• graphics

• background images

• bevels and other graphic tricks

• excessive frames

• text scrolling, animated .gif's, page fade-ins

Too much of something just comes off as being "cutsie", tacky, or unoriginal...but used properly it can add just the right touch. Learn to use things that compliment your site's content, and not to overdo it with extra techniques and tricks.

Readability - Make your pages as easy to read as possible. Black text on a white or off-white background is the easiest to read. There are plenty of hard-to-read pages that use backgrounds the same shade as the text (dark text on a dark background and light on light), or what I call the "neon" look with bright color on bright color.

Learn to use the tag and give your readers a font that's easy on the eye. I always think it's such a shame to see a site full of great content and then left in the default Times New Roman font. Use a sans-serif font - arial and verdana are good choices, then put "sans-serif" generic font in your last html tag attribute to cover anyone that may not have a specific font you listed as a first choice or second choice.

Browser and Monitor Compatibility -. Learn to make your web pages compatible with both Microsoft Internet Explorer(IE) and Netscape Navigator. After preparing a site, test it in both browsers and ondifferent screen sizes or resolutions. Typical figures are 80% of Internet users are on the IE browser, 80% using 800 x 600 resolution, and most on a 15" or 17" screen....but, can you really afford for your site to look poor to 20% of the market? The answer is NO. Make your site compatible with both browsers and take that silly "best viewed with..." graphic off the site! Furthermore, use alt tags in your graphics for people who surf with images turned off, or on smaller browsers which don't support them.

Using Java - Personally, I like Java and use it in site design. However, you have to remember many people turn it off for one reason or another. Or they may be using a browser that doesn't support it.Therefore, if you use a java driven menu (quite popular nowadays), you better have some alternate navigation.

About The Author

Kim Eyer, of EyerStation.com publishes the WebSiteOwner eZine for webmasters and small businesses. To get your monthly copy and access to its support website, send a blank email to eyerstation@carolina.net with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line.

---

6 Reasons Why A Website Is Crucial To Your Business

Since I'm a web designer, I have a tendency to... Read More

Through The Looking Glass

My mother used to take me along when she visited... Read More

Website Design: 10 Smart Tips To Improve Your Ad Copy

Your website design may be affecting your sales in ways... Read More

Do You Own Your Web Site Design?

Your web site has been up for a few months... Read More

How to Double Your Online Sales Without Spending Another Dime on Advertising

Learning how to convert visitors to your web site into... Read More

Simplify Your Web Site for Clarity and Ease of Use

There are plenty of web sites out there in which... Read More

User Experience and Search Engines: If Your Home Page Could Only Talk

Dear web site visitor.I can't tell you how glad I... Read More

Browser Compatibility

Internet Explorer, created by microsoft has been the most popular... Read More

10 Important Web Design Tips: SEO Friendly Website

A website should firstly be searched out by visitors before... Read More

A Web Site That Sells Is All One Needs To Have A Successful Online Business!

There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online... Read More

Hacked Off with CSS?

For those not familiar with CSS Hacks, they are ways... Read More

Developing An Effective Physical Therapy Web Site

Physical therapists have unique web presence needs. An effective site... Read More

Web Site Accessibility

Making your site accessible means making it available to be... Read More

Pop-Ups Still Work. At Least For The Time Being

Do you remember playing with the jack-in-the-box toy as a... Read More

Ten Design Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these mistakes and your site will be steps ahead... Read More

Web Design for Dictators

No question about it, web design is an art. Finding... Read More

TEN Answers That Turn Your Visitors Into Your Customers

You know... Before purchasing your product a person comes to... Read More

Why Ugly Sites Sell More Than Pretty Ones

What the heck is going on lately? Most internet websites... Read More

Quality Graphics for your Web Site

For most people graphic design does not come easy. Unfortunately... Read More

How To Improve The Professional Look And Feel Of Your Website

Projecting a professional image is paramount to your website's success.... Read More

Why Should You Care About Your Web Site Colors?

**How Colors are Used in web design:**Demarcates screen elements into... Read More

Do You Want To Save Time With Your Web Design?

It starts off simply; a few HTML pages, a few... Read More

To Flash, or Not to Flash

When considering whether or not to incorporate Flash into your... Read More

How Not to be Ripped Off by Your Website Designer

As web designer my self, I have had the unfortunate... Read More

Quality of Your Text Layout and Design

Why is the quality of your text layout and design... Read More

Moving Things Around

How often, men, have you come home to find the... Read More

Use Feng Shui Techniques To Design a Harmonic Website For Your Business

By following feng shui guidelines and techniques, you can build... Read More

Let Your Website Make You $$$ While You Sleep! and All That Other B.S.!

Well, you've got your product, started your home business, and... Read More

Is Your Web Site Turning Visitors Away?

One of the biggest problems with Web sites is that... Read More

Becoming A Website Designer

The ability to create simple, attractive and functional web pages... Read More

Web Advertising: 10 Little Known Tricks To Help Convert Your Traffics To Buying Customers

You may not believe it, but people still judge things... Read More

Your Free Guide To Obtain A Cheap Web Design Quote

Website design is a very competitive area and there is... Read More

Web Design: Should You Hire Someone or Do It Yourself?

So you need a website. You are not sure if... Read More