It's not enough to know *how* to create a web site, you also
need to know what makes a *good* web site. Think back on some of
the web sites you've visited recently. Were you impressed by all
of them? Probably not. Many web sites are technically fine, but
fail on aesthetic grounds.
The guidelines below will help you to create web sites that are
user-friendly and will be well received.
1. Content, content, content! The single most important element
in any successful web site is good content. You must have
content that is:
* interesting;
* informative; and
* regularly updated.
Without this, it will be difficult to convince people to visit
your site again and again. Lots of flashy colours and animated
images may look fun the first time, but it's not enough to keep
people coming back to your site. Only good content can do that.
2. Don't overuse character styles such as bold face and italics
as this can make your site seem amateurish. Also, underlining
should be avoided at all costs as visitors will mistake
underlined text for a clickable link.
Similarly, don't wildly vary the size of your type unless you
have good reason.
3. Don't abuse your colours. Too many colours, or overly garish
colours, are one of the easiest ways to spot amateur web sites.
Also make sure that you choose a readable colour scheme. White
text on a black background may look cool, but it's tough to
read, particularly with small text.
4. Leave lots of blank space. Text on computer screens is hard
to read at the best of times, so don't cram in your text. Start
lots of new paragraphs, and leave plenty of space between
objects. Headings or horizontal rules are a good way to do this.
5. Use less text per page. The web is primarily a visual medium.
Screen after screen of text is dull and unlikely to be read. Try
to limit the amount of text on any page to a few paragraphs by
breaking long pages into several smaller pages.
6. Don't assume that other people will see what you see. There
are many things that can make your web page look different to
what you expected:
* Different browsers, even different versions of the same
browser, can display your pages quite differently.
* Some people use a screen that is 640 pixels wide; others have
screens that are 800, 1,024 or 1,200 pixels wide. They may all
see your site quite differently.
* Some computers may not display as many colours as yours.
* The fonts that you used may not be installed on other
people's computers.
* Other people may have different browser settings to you.
* etc.
The moral of this story is twofold:
a. Don't waste your time trying to get the layout "just right"
as it will probably look different on other people's machines
anyway.
b. Test your pages as widely as possible. For example, look at
them on different machines and browsers, change the browser's
settings, use fewer colours, use different fonts, turn off
images. Does your web site still look okay in all of these
situations?
Remember, it's not enough to make a web site, you have to make a
good one. With over two billion other web pages out there at the
moment, you'll have to work hard to ensure that yours stands out
from the crowd. Good design and good content will help you do
this. Good luck!
About the author:
Tim North info@scribe.com.au http://www.scribe.com.au/ebooks.htm
