Web design tips

Here are some great web design tips by Michael Bluejay, who says that the most common web design mistakes are easy to prevent when following these few tips.

Provide compelling content
Ensure that each web-page has something valuable to offer your viewer.

Avoid sleazy elements
Don’t distract your reader with auto-loading sound effects, scrolling text or animated GIF’s as these will distract your viewer.  Stay away from pop-up windows and don’t use image backgrounds.

Make it easy to find stuff
Think carefully about your layout and content, and how it should be organised.  Minimise clicking to prevent your viewer from leaving your site.  Limit page length to 2 screenfuls or 6-7 for articles.  Include a way back to the home-page on every page and make sure that you have a menu on each page.  Don’t use frames as this makes it impossible for your viewer to bookmark or link to a specific page.
 
Don’t bog your website down
Compress your image files and try not to use flashy multimedia.

Website readability
Ensure that no line of text is more than 600 pixels wide, don’t make your page too wide and make sure that your text can be read on your background colour.  Text should be large enough to read, increased line spacing will improve readability.  Don’t type more than a few words in all CAPS and never use more than one exclamation point. And always remember to use a spell checker.

The right and wrong way to use links
Don’t underline words if they not links, make links blue or underlined or both, explain what you linking to, don’t open internal links in a new window and be sure to use descriptive link text.

Be accessible
Ensure that your contact info, or a link to it, is at the top or bottom of each page.

Make sure that it works
Test your links, remove dead external links periodically and include a “last modified” date on each page.

Other webmaster tips
Don’t steal content, don’t hotlink to other sites images or MP3’s, don’t ask for permission to link to a site and never ask to exchange links with other sites.

Go to Website Helpers.com for more information.