Designing your own web page or site is a project that can be as
fun and creative as you like. You’re putting your work out there
for potentially millions of people to read. Whether your site
showcases your prized collection of stamps, your photos of
family and pet[s], or you’re trying to build a new business;
your web site is the best window of opportunity to make a good
impression. Keep in mind that most surfers will give your page
about 15 seconds. This means one thing: make it memorable! To do
this, here are 8 important gaffes to avoid.
1. There are hundreds of available fonts from the standard size
Times New Roman to extra large and bold Goudy Stout. Using more
than two, possibly three, fonts are not recommended. It’s fun
experimenting with the right font for your page, but unless
you’re creating a web site where you’re featuring fonts, keep it
simple. Also, script fonts look awful when they’re done in all
capital letters.
2. With the advent of animated graphics [GIF’s], most of them
available for the rock bottom price of nothing, people can go
crazy decorating their site with the visual equivalent of Disney
World. Some of the animations do more than move; they make
noise! Remember, folks, less is more! One or two appropriate
animations per page can enhance it. Yes, animation is fun. But
too much can be distracting.
3. Spell check your page. Read it. Then read it again. Even if
you have a graphics’ intensive site, you will have some text.
When that text is misspelled and/or full of grammatical errors,
you’ll turn away a proportionate amount of traffic. I once
discovered a site with TWELVE misspellings on one page! No
matter what you’re selling or showing on the WWW, being able to
do so in proper English [or whatever your language] is always
appreciated. Most word processing programs include a spell
check. And if you’re in doubt, have someone who likes to read
and write proofread it.
4. Text only sites are BORING! If we want to read a book online
we’ll go to an e-book company and download one! Or to the
library -- get the point? Even if you’re designing a serious
reference site, there’s always a way to include an elegant
little graphic, a non-white background, or a line to break up
the paragraphs. The Internet is a visual medium for most of us
[except those who run their browser in a text-only format], so
make it look attractive. After all, you are inviting people to
share something with you.
5. The other extreme would be sites that are so graphics’
intensive that we spend several minutes waiting for the last
picture to load. While it may be a very entertaining site, the
epoch it takes to show us how fantastic those photos/graphics
really are may be too long for impatient surfers. Balance
pictures with text. Find a way to make the photos into
thumbnails, or at least decrease the size so they don’t take as
long to unfold into their full glory.
6. Broken links don’t increase your popularity. Who likes seeing
that ‘404 File Not Found’ on their screen? CHECK YOUR LINKS
before launching your site.
7. If you need to add music to your site, please have an off
switch. That someone will share your taste in music isn’t always
going to be the case. During the weeks before Christmas how many
sites did we come upon that played various versions of "Jingle
Bells" and other carols? While music can enhance a site, it can
also detract from it. I came upon the most appalling example of
what a web site shouldn’t contain some months ago. The blaring
techno music was so relentless that I immediately searched for
the off button. I never found it. I was next visually assaulted
with a growing font that looked like it was going to jump out of
my computer. Instead, it froze. The screen, now almost
completely lime green with font, had just enough space for me to
read the words: "...will design a site like this for you." As my
speakers were SQUEALING from the stuck music and the monitor
displaying that parody, I shut my computer off. Enough said?
8. Update your site periodically. Signs like ‘last updated 1998’
give clues to the surfer that this is a cobweb. The more you
freshen your contents, the more likely your site is to remain
fresh in people’s minds. Plus it helps your rankings in the
search engines.
Hope you have fun designing your web page. It’s your way to show
off what you know.
About the author:
Lisa Maliga has won a Golden Web Award, along with a few others,
for her web site. For more information about her writing,
e-publishing, onsite newsletter, unique bath & body recipes and
various other topics, visit Lisa’s Library of Writing at
http://www.lisamaliga.com.
