The 9 Pillars Of Excellent Website Design
1. A picture, they say, is value a thousand words.
A picture no hesitation enhances the overall look and sense of your website. However, like the quote above a picture file is quite big in size and too much of it can make your website seem like a pull to download. Although most internet users are now cruising the information super highway at broadband speed you should still cater to those who are still using dial up connections ( and mind you there are more then a handful). As a law of thumb I suggest you keep your image size to less then 30k where possible. Your webpage should be able to load within 5 seconds. Please do not forget about users who cannot see the images on your website by providing alternate texts as description to the images. Most webpage making programs like Macromedia's DreamWeaver allow you to this easily.
2. Navigability & functionality approach before creative quality
It is totally of no use to make a website that is a work of art from an artistic point of view but a total failure on the web! Why? Because the users simply don't know how to get around the website! You should always bear in brain what car manufacturers always emphasize, ease of convenience to functions. Make sure your navigation is clear and completely idiot proof (no offence to those of you out there who always get lost in a website no matter how good it is).
3. keep away from secrecy Meat Navigation.
This is one of the biggest mistakes a website can make as well as one of the most frustrating experience for users. This sort of navigation requires the user to mouse over an image in order to navigate to a link without actually having any idea where they are heading. It is only when they click and hold the mouse over the image that they can see the actual link.
4. Tables - Split them up
Ever been to a website whereby you find yourself staring at a blank screen for a certain period of time before lastly as if by magic the whole website just pops out of no where? That is because the designer of that website most likely put the whole web page within a single table. Tables are used in web design to help align images in a website as well as to create a arrangement to the layout of a website. It makes all neater as well as enables the designer to create abstract layouts easily. I will show you how to use tables as part of your design later on but for now please take note that your user would be far better off if you split a single table on a page into smaller tables as required. It helps the user to arrange for the long wait in a way as the smaller tables with their contents and images will be downloading first so users can expect and not leave your website in aggravation.
5. No Pop-up Windows Please
Pop-up windows have been on the rise recently on the web. These are small little windows that pop-up with some information or key ad on them. They do nothing but mess the user's screen needlessly. It is best if all links open within the same window. However exceptions for the use of a pop up window may be for situations like if a page contains a link list then it might fine to place all these links within a pop up window. However as a general rule keep away from using pop up windows they make your life as well as the user's easier. Furthermore, operating systems like Microsoft Windows XP are now equipped with Pop-Up Blocker (this tells you how welcome pop ups are to users).
6. Use Simple Fonts
Well it exists and it is a imaginary font with a innovative typography to it. You might be shock to know that I am actually discouraging you from using such imaginary fonts. Why? Can you imagine the aggravation for your users of having to read your whole website in default times new roman all because they do not have the font you used installed on their machines. limit the usage of such imaginary fonts to your graphical designs only. Stick to the good old combo of Arial, Verdana and Tahoma.
7. No innovative plug-ins
For those who have not at all heard of the word plug - in , do not be worried it is just a executable such as a program or animation or audio/video flow that needs an outside software to be installed or plugged in (hence the name) into your computer to run.
Most web designers would bind at the possibility of using as many plug-ins some of which have never even been heard of before. They believe that this imaginary plug-ins would amaze the user however more often then not the conflicting occurs. It draws visitors away from your website. No one likes to wait for an extra minute or two to permit software to download on their computer only to watch some senseless animation or listen to some audio which has no importance to the website's core purpose. Have you ever seen websites like Yahoo! Google or Lycos? You will see they do not have plug-ins at all. However like everything else in this world, there are exceptions even when it comes to plug-ins. For example, if you would like to use animation on your website you can use Macromedia Flash and you can make a link from your site to allow users to download its plug in via Macromedia's website so they can view your site's Flash content.
8. Never undervalue meta tags
Meta tags are a group of particular key words which are used to explain some feature of the content of your site. It is widely used in HTML based websites. The information that is offer within a Meta tag will allow search engines to index your webpage so that people using the search engine to search for exacting information might be able to locate it on your page more simply. In short, meta tags when suitably chosen can assist your webpage increase more publicity and improved listings on search engines.
9. User is ruler
like every business in the real world, the client is always right and so it is on the Internet. Keep your customers glad and focus on providing services and features on your website which focus on adding worth to your customer's experience when they visit your website. How can you do that? Easy, just make certain you have a good storefront for your website and if you are selling services make sure your customers can easily find the service they need and get quick service from you. Always keep in mind to put your customers at the front of your brain! It can make all the difference between a informal surfer and a grave customer.
A picture no hesitation enhances the overall look and sense of your website. However, like the quote above a picture file is quite big in size and too much of it can make your website seem like a pull to download. Although most internet users are now cruising the information super highway at broadband speed you should still cater to those who are still using dial up connections ( and mind you there are more then a handful). As a law of thumb I suggest you keep your image size to less then 30k where possible. Your webpage should be able to load within 5 seconds. Please do not forget about users who cannot see the images on your website by providing alternate texts as description to the images. Most webpage making programs like Macromedia's DreamWeaver allow you to this easily.
2. Navigability & functionality approach before creative quality
It is totally of no use to make a website that is a work of art from an artistic point of view but a total failure on the web! Why? Because the users simply don't know how to get around the website! You should always bear in brain what car manufacturers always emphasize, ease of convenience to functions. Make sure your navigation is clear and completely idiot proof (no offence to those of you out there who always get lost in a website no matter how good it is).
3. keep away from secrecy Meat Navigation.
This is one of the biggest mistakes a website can make as well as one of the most frustrating experience for users. This sort of navigation requires the user to mouse over an image in order to navigate to a link without actually having any idea where they are heading. It is only when they click and hold the mouse over the image that they can see the actual link.
4. Tables - Split them up
Ever been to a website whereby you find yourself staring at a blank screen for a certain period of time before lastly as if by magic the whole website just pops out of no where? That is because the designer of that website most likely put the whole web page within a single table. Tables are used in web design to help align images in a website as well as to create a arrangement to the layout of a website. It makes all neater as well as enables the designer to create abstract layouts easily. I will show you how to use tables as part of your design later on but for now please take note that your user would be far better off if you split a single table on a page into smaller tables as required. It helps the user to arrange for the long wait in a way as the smaller tables with their contents and images will be downloading first so users can expect and not leave your website in aggravation.
5. No Pop-up Windows Please
Pop-up windows have been on the rise recently on the web. These are small little windows that pop-up with some information or key ad on them. They do nothing but mess the user's screen needlessly. It is best if all links open within the same window. However exceptions for the use of a pop up window may be for situations like if a page contains a link list then it might fine to place all these links within a pop up window. However as a general rule keep away from using pop up windows they make your life as well as the user's easier. Furthermore, operating systems like Microsoft Windows XP are now equipped with Pop-Up Blocker (this tells you how welcome pop ups are to users).
6. Use Simple Fonts
Well it exists and it is a imaginary font with a innovative typography to it. You might be shock to know that I am actually discouraging you from using such imaginary fonts. Why? Can you imagine the aggravation for your users of having to read your whole website in default times new roman all because they do not have the font you used installed on their machines. limit the usage of such imaginary fonts to your graphical designs only. Stick to the good old combo of Arial, Verdana and Tahoma.
7. No innovative plug-ins
For those who have not at all heard of the word plug - in , do not be worried it is just a executable such as a program or animation or audio/video flow that needs an outside software to be installed or plugged in (hence the name) into your computer to run.
Most web designers would bind at the possibility of using as many plug-ins some of which have never even been heard of before. They believe that this imaginary plug-ins would amaze the user however more often then not the conflicting occurs. It draws visitors away from your website. No one likes to wait for an extra minute or two to permit software to download on their computer only to watch some senseless animation or listen to some audio which has no importance to the website's core purpose. Have you ever seen websites like Yahoo! Google or Lycos? You will see they do not have plug-ins at all. However like everything else in this world, there are exceptions even when it comes to plug-ins. For example, if you would like to use animation on your website you can use Macromedia Flash and you can make a link from your site to allow users to download its plug in via Macromedia's website so they can view your site's Flash content.
8. Never undervalue meta tags
Meta tags are a group of particular key words which are used to explain some feature of the content of your site. It is widely used in HTML based websites. The information that is offer within a Meta tag will allow search engines to index your webpage so that people using the search engine to search for exacting information might be able to locate it on your page more simply. In short, meta tags when suitably chosen can assist your webpage increase more publicity and improved listings on search engines.
9. User is ruler
like every business in the real world, the client is always right and so it is on the Internet. Keep your customers glad and focus on providing services and features on your website which focus on adding worth to your customer's experience when they visit your website. How can you do that? Easy, just make certain you have a good storefront for your website and if you are selling services make sure your customers can easily find the service they need and get quick service from you. Always keep in mind to put your customers at the front of your brain! It can make all the difference between a informal surfer and a grave customer.
Source...