-
Fast Loading web
site designs - This is the number
1 tip that every web designer should follow. You might design
a web site that looks fantastic but few people are going to
see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs should be
optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds
to load. Remember, you might have a great design but very few
people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load.
-
Clear Navigation -
Once a visitor has come to your site you need to make them go
through your site. To do this you need to have clear
navigation. Make sure all your important links are at
prominent places. Preferably right on top - that's usually
where a visitor first looks. Make use of menus on the right
and the left. Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let
your information be accessible from all parts of the site. You
never know what a visitor may be interested in. Try to also
use the footer for your important links.
-
All Resolutions -
Today, there are computers with all kinds of resolution. They
range from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your
job is to design your site for all these resolutions. The best
way to do this is to design your site in terms of percentage
and not pixels.
-
Browser
Compatibility - Make sure your
site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in
Netscape as well as in Internet Explorer. Don't stop designing
your site as soon as you find that it looks great on IE.
Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try
doing complicated HTML designs. But don't give up too soon,
usually with patience these problems can be easily fixed.
-
Readable and
professional looking fonts -
Don't ask me how many times I've clicked out of a site just
because the font is in Comic Sans and the color is a bright
pink or green. Just by looking at the font you feel that the
site is not a professional site. Don't use Comic Sans and
other fancy fonts that may not be available on most computers.
If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer
the web site will use the default font of your computer which
is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web
fonts. The fonts that I always stick to are Arial and Verdana.
-
Minimize the use of
images - I believe that sometimes
simple designs are the most effective for the web. Keep your
site simple but neat. Don't clutter your page with big, bulky
images that take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively
and design eye - catching icons that will draw a visitor's
attention to a particular section of your site. Tip - Visitors
are usually more interested in content than in design.
-
Use of white space
- Try not to clutter up your page
with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts. Again
use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing the use of
graphics and using a lot of white space. White space gives a
sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site. Notice
the white space in our site.
-
Check for broken
links - Always check for broken
links within a site before uploading it to your web server. In
Dreamweaver you can check for broken links by right clicking
on any file in the Site Files Window and then clicking on
Check links - Entire Site. If you don't have this facility you
need to upload your site and then check it using online tools
like Net Mechanic.