Web Design Tips
Site Navigation
We're going to start off with a topic that is probably one of the most important
aspects of web site design itself, that of navigation. Many a web site has
gone to the proverbial Internet graveyard because of poor or non existent
navigation, and that is no way to run a business. This article will give
you some basic tips on navigation that will make your site one that people
will enjoy coming to and not get lost at in the process.
The first thing you need to know, is just what navigation is. Navigation
is the term used to describe how a visitor gets from one page of your site
to another. Now, if you have a one page web site, this doesn't usually apply
unless you have anchor links on the page that take people to various parts
of that page. Normally though, navigation applies to sites with multiple
pages. The more pages you have, the more tricky navigation becomes.
Navigation needs to be looked at the way you would look at the table of contents
in a book. If you were to go to any table of contents, you'd see a page number
next to each chapter name. That way, you could easily jump to that chapter
in order to read it. This is especially useful with technical books where
you may only need the details for a specific procedure.
Well, web design is no different. Let's say you had a site on health products
and you decided that you wanted to have a main page to greet people, a page
with the products you promote, another page with articles that address health
related issues and finally a page for people to contact you at if they were
to have any questions. Now, this is a very simple web site, but it still
can easily illustrate the point.
The navigation should be simple and clear. The most common forms of navigation
are either menus that go across the top of the web page or menus that go
down either the right or left side. Left is usually more common that right.
As to top and side, it's pretty much split down the middle. The key, however,
is that you want the navigation links to be uniform throughout the site.
In other words, if you decide to go with left side navigation links for the
main page, then, in the case of our example web site, you would also want
the links to go down the left side for the products page, articles page and
contact page. Each page should have the exact same layout and look exactly
the same except for the content on the page.
The easiest way to do this is simply to create a main template that includes
all your navigation and use that template for every page on your site. That
way, there is no way that you can foul this up as you are simply taking the
same HTML shell code and using it for each page. All you need to do is change
the content.
Also, make sure that the links to each page are large enough to be seen and
attractive looking. You want your navigation to look as interesting as the
rest of your site.
While this is a very simple and basic example, it should be more than sufficient
to provide you with a web site that people will feel comfortable coming to
and not get lost at in the process.
Web Site Design Tips - Speed Of Loading
This article in our series on web site design tips is going to focus on one
of the biggest mistakes that web designers make, even the good ones. I'm
referring to the matter of how quickly their web site loads. I'm going to
share some do's and don'ts and some tips for getting your web site to load
faster so that you don't lose your visitors before they even get to see your
page. Hopefully, you will find these tips useful.
The biggest mistake that web designers make, even the ones that really know
their stuff, is that they assume that everybody is on a high speed Internet
connection. It might surprise you to learn that only a very small percentage
of the Internet population is on high speed. A good portion of the community
is still on dial up. I know this for a fact because some of the products
I sell are fairly large and I get many emails from people telling me that
they can't download them because they are on dial up. So don't assume, because
that's where you get into a lot of trouble.
What does this mean when it comes to fancy web site design? Well, for starters,
it means kill the multi megabyte Flash presentations, especially on your
welcome or main page. If a Flash movie is loading and the visitor is simply
staring at a blank screen for five minutes, if they even wait that long,
they are just going to pick themselves up and go elsewhere. If you feel that
you must have a Flash presentation on your main page, then make sure you
have a link in it that says something like "Skip This Intro" so that people
with slow Internet connections can bypass it.
The next thing that you want to concentrate on when it comes to speed of
loading is your graphics. Yes, I know. You want your web site to look cool
so that people have something to look at that isn't just plain text. However,
there are ways to include graphics on your pages that won't bog down the
loading process. Here are a few tips for doing so.
The first thing to do is NOT have too many images loading on one page. The
more images that have to load, the slower the loading process. If you have
a site that is displaying posters, and you want to display a large number
of posters, break them up into separate pages. Let's say you have 100 posters
that you want to display. By breaking them up into pages of 10 each with
a link pointing to the next page, you'll have pages that load faster and
a nice navigation besides.
The next thing you want to do is keep your image sizes small. The larger
the image, the longer it is going to take for it to load. If the original
size of those 100 posters is 800 x 600, you might want to first represent
each one as a thumbnail of maybe 80 x 60 and then have visitors click on
the thumbnail to view the larger image. This will greatly speed up load time.
By following these simple tips on Flash movies and images, you'll improve
the load time of your site and you'll keep your visitors there a lot longer.
Web Site Design Tips - The Right Look
In this installment of our series on web site design tips, we're going to
focus on the overall look of the site itself. This is probably more design
than anything else but it is still very important. Without a proper look
in mind, people will not take your site seriously. There needs to be some
uniformity to your site. This article will give you some tips on how to go
about getting this uniformity and making your site as professional looking
as possible.
Web design, as far as the overall look and appearance of your site, is an
art. I am not saying that it can't be taught, because it can. But to design
a site that is really eye catching, that is something that you develop over
time. However, the basics can be learned and you need to know them before
you can ever build a web site that lands you a spot on the top 10 web site
design list.
The easiest way to learn web site design, or what I call layout, is to simply
go to other sites in your niche and see what they look like. The reason I
say, in your niche, is because every niche has its own look. If you were
to go to sites that feature heavy metal bands, you would find that the overall
look of these sites is a lot different from sites that feature treatments
for health problems. So you want to get a general feel for what your kind
of site should look like. This is not to say that you copy somebody's design
exactly. Simply use it as a model.
One thing you will find about the look of most web sites is that they are
very well structured. What I mean by structured is that they don't start
at the top and just spit out a bunch of text and graphics with no rhyme or
reason to it. Yes, the bad sites do this. But the ones that are professionally
designed have a flow to them. It's impossible to go over every possible design
scheme but the basics are as follows:
At the top of the page is what we call the header. This is usually some form
of graphic that has the site name and logo. These headers are usually very
attractive. Some sites, where they are of the more serious nature, like health
sites, are more low key with their header. However, they still do look very
professional.
After the header is usually where you will find the navigation of the site,
either under the header or to the left and below. This is so people can get
around the site easily and not have to go hunting for navigation links. This
part alone can really kill your site if not done correctly.
The rest of the site, which is the content, is usually broken up with tables
or div tags. This makes it so that the content flows in a logical manner
and isn't all over the place. Some of these tables may actually look like
physical tables as their borders are visible. Some, however, are invisible
so that it is only a suggestion of structure. You can't really see it, but
you can feel it and you know it's there.
Finally, at the bottom of each page will be your legal disclaimers, site
creation stats, such as who designed it, or whatever you want to have there.
The point is, everything flows logically from top to bottom and also from
left to right.
As I said, design is something that comes with time, but if you follow some
basic guidelines, which includes simply looking at other sites, you'll have
a pretty good idea of how to put together a web site that is attractive and
holds the attention of your visitors.
Web Site Design Tips - The Right Look
In this installment of our series on web site design tips, we're going to
focus on the overall look of the site itself. This is probably more design
than anything else but it is still very important. Without a proper look
in mind, people will not take your site seriously. There needs to be some
uniformity to your site. This article will give you some tips on how to go
about getting this uniformity and making your site as professional looking
as possible.
Web design, as far as the overall look and appearance of your site, is an
art. I am not saying that it can't be taught, because it can. But to design
a site that is really eye catching, that is something that you develop over
time. However, the basics can be learned and you need to know them before
you can ever build a web site that lands you a spot on the top 10 web site
design list.
The easiest way to learn web site design, or what I call layout, is to simply
go to other sites in your niche and see what they look like. The reason I
say, in your niche, is because every niche has its own look. If you were
to go to sites that feature heavy metal bands, you would find that the overall
look of these sites is a lot different from sites that feature treatments
for health problems. So you want to get a general feel for what your kind
of site should look like. This is not to say that you copy somebody's design
exactly. Simply use it as a model.
One thing you will find about the look of most web sites is that they are
very well structured. What I mean by structured is that they don't start
at the top and just spit out a bunch of text and graphics with no rhyme or
reason to it. Yes, the bad sites do this. But the ones that are professionally
designed have a flow to them. It's impossible to go over every possible design
scheme but the basics are as follows:
At the top of the page is what we call the header. This is usually some form
of graphic that has the site name and logo. These headers are usually very
attractive. Some sites, where they are of the more serious nature, like health
sites, are more low key with their header. However, they still do look very
professional.
After the header is usually where you will find the navigation of the site,
either under the header or to the left and below. This is so people can get
around the site easily and not have to go hunting for navigation links. This
part alone can really kill your site if not done correctly.
The rest of the site, which is the content, is usually broken up with tables
or div tags. This makes it so that the content flows in a logical manner
and isn't all over the place. Some of these tables may actually look like
physical tables as their borders are visible. Some, however, are invisible
so that it is only a suggestion of structure. You can't really see it, but
you can feel it and you know it's there.
Finally, at the bottom of each page will be your legal disclaimers, site
creation stats, such as who designed it, or whatever you want to have there.
The point is, everything flows logically from top to bottom and also from
left to right.
As I said, design is something that comes with time, but if you follow some
basic guidelines, which includes simply looking at other sites, you'll have
a pretty good idea of how to put together a web site that is attractive and
holds the attention of your visitors.
Web Site Design Tips - Interaction
In this installment of web site design tips, we're going to concentrate on
an aspect of web design that a lot of designers ignore because it's more
on the technical side than the actual design side. However, site interaction
is very important if you want to give your visitors a complete web experience.
This article will go over some of the basic things you should include on
your web site in order to make your visitors feel like they're more than
just, well, than just visitors.
As much as people like looking a web sites, especially if they're visually
appealing, they also like to feel like they are involved with the site itself.
That's why sites like blogs and social sites like Wikipedia and MySpace are
so popular. It almost makes the person feel like the site is partially their
own. In order to get this feel, there are some simple things you can do,
even if you don't want to create something as massive as another MySpace.
The first, and probably easiest thing to do is include a search function
on your site. The reason I say easiest is because you don't have to do any
programming to accomplish this. All you have to do is head over to Google
and get the code for this function. It will give your visitors the ability
to either do an Internet search from your site, meaning find things at other
sites, or do a site search, meaning find things at your own site. This will
make visiting your site a lot more enjoyable.
Another thing you can do is set up a blog on your site where visitors can
post their comments. If you want, you can make it so that they have to register
to do this. Most will not mind. This will keep the spam comments to a minimum
if the person has to give a real email address. Also, this is a great way
to build a list at the same time, so you are killing two birds with one stone.
Another thing that you can do with your site, in order to encourage interaction,
is to put things up on your site that people can comment on or even vote
on. For example, you can put up polls asking people for their opinions on
topics related to your site. There are tons of polling software around that
you can get for free. Some of them you don't even have to install. All you
need to do is go to a site, copy and paste some code on your page and you're
done.
Another thing you can do is sign up with an autoresponder service like Aweber
or Get Response and the include an opt in form for somebody to download a
free report related to your site. People love free reports and this is another
way to build your list.
These few tips are just the tip of the giant interactive iceberg. By keeping
your visitors engaged at your site, you will keep them there longer and keep
them coming back for more.
Web Site Design Tips - Interaction
In this installment of web site design tips, we're going to concentrate on
an aspect of web design that a lot of designers ignore because it's more
on the technical side than the actual design side. However, site interaction
is very important if you want to give your visitors a complete web experience.
This article will go over some of the basic things you should include on
your web site in order to make your visitors feel like they're more than
just, well, than just visitors.
As much as people like looking a web sites, especially if they're visually
appealing, they also like to feel like they are involved with the site itself.
That's why sites like blogs and social sites like Wikipedia and MySpace are
so popular. It almost makes the person feel like the site is partially their
own. In order to get this feel, there are some simple things you can do,
even if you don't want to create something as massive as another MySpace.
The first, and probably easiest thing to do is include a search function
on your site. The reason I say easiest is because you don't have to do any
programming to accomplish this. All you have to do is head over to Google
and get the code for this function. It will give your visitors the ability
to either do an Internet search from your site, meaning find things at other
sites, or do a site search, meaning find things at your own site. This will
make visiting your site a lot more enjoyable.
Another thing you can do is set up a blog on your site where visitors can
post their comments. If you want, you can make it so that they have to register
to do this. Most will not mind. This will keep the spam comments to a minimum
if the person has to give a real email address. Also, this is a great way
to build a list at the same time, so you are killing two birds with one stone.
Another thing that you can do with your site, in order to encourage interaction,
is to put things up on your site that people can comment on or even vote
on. For example, you can put up polls asking people for their opinions on
topics related to your site. There are tons of polling software around that
you can get for free. Some of them you don't even have to install. All you
need to do is go to a site, copy and paste some code on your page and you're
done.
Another thing you can do is sign up with an autoresponder service like Aweber
or Get Response and the include an opt in form for somebody to download a
free report related to your site. People love free reports and this is another
way to build your list.
These few tips are just the tip of the giant interactive iceberg. By keeping
your visitors engaged at your site, you will keep them there longer and keep
them coming back for more.
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