10 Tips to Having a Great Website

The greatest challenge to having a presence in the online world lies in having a great website. And it all boils down to designing great web pages. How can yours be different and attention-catching?

First and foremost you need as much accurate information about what the site is all about as you can. Browse through other sites to see how they have presented their sites and see how you can make yours better than theirs. Don’t copy designs from other sites. Instead, try and stand out.

1. Test the usability of your website before uploading using different browsers. It should open fast and wholly in all. You can also ask different users to try and open the site. This will bring any technical problems to your attention.

2. Make the pages less than 50k.

3. Limit on-page screens to three. Visitors should not scroll horizontally to read through your sentences.

4. Let your website communicate what you intend to pass across in a creative way. Use original images as opposed to downloaded images which are common-place.

5. Use GIF files instead of JPEG ones. Avoid other similarly heavy pages as they tend to slow down the pages.

6. In website designing, simplicity is actually key. Avoid the pomp exhibited by illustrations, animations, flashy images, java text scrolling, fade-ins, black spaces and GIF.

7. Use HTML as much as possible. Flash is fun to use but will often require downloaded plug-ins which you should avoid. Remember that HTML is still basic and accessible by more people.

8. Your website should exclusively target a certain group of people. Remember this as you put it all together.

9. Follow the laid down rules of creative design – avoid too much page content, use search engine optimization, include as many links as possible. Be careful not to use broken links. Ensure that all your links are working. The design should follow the given content while the content should follow a style sheet or the elements of style. Keep archives. Use attractive titles and fonts.

10. Use backgrounds that enhance readability of your text. Some backgrounds to avoid are those with many patterns and/or tiles as they cloud words and make the web design look too fussy. Do not use frames that make it hard for visitors to book mark your site.

Each web page should reflect the intended outlook of the whole site. Your main aim should be inform. Ensure you have sufficient information on what the site is all about. Have publications on the topics as well as tips.

The basic rules of design should be reflected clearly. That is, rhythm, design, proportion, unity and dominance.

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