Web Design 29

Designing Your Own

Help, I'm Designing My Own Web Site
Designing a web page for the first time can be a daunting task to the fledgling webmaster. After all, its just one of the most important facets of a successful web site. If you design your site properly then your visitor will have a positive experience and visit often, if not, then its doubtful that you will ever see them again.

So what are the things that you need to consider when designing your web site?

First and foremost is the content. People visit your web site to be either entertained or to be informed. A good web site will inform or teach. A great web site will do both.

Your content should be fresh, unique and, above all, authoritative. You must be knowledgeable about the subject of your content. People who visit your site expect you to know what your talking about.

Writing for the web is different from writing for print. People rarely read the text of a web page word for word. Readers scan the text for words or phrases and will skip over complete paragraphs if they are not caught by the first few words. In general, bullet points, bold text and short paragraphs are more appropriate for the Internet reader.

Nothing will cause a reader to hit the door quicker than a misspelled word. Spelling and, yes, grammar are important to writing quality content. Internet readers are savvy readers so check and recheck for errors.

Using color
Its been proven that people prefer black on white, for obvious reasons, when reading text, but, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't use color in your web site. Color can make anything more attractive and interesting, when used properly, and it can do the same for your site. When using color you should follow a color scheme that you use throughout your web site.

Easy to follow navigation Your web site should be well organized and easy to navigate. The most commonly used method of navigation is a menu at the top or side, usually the left, of the page with links to the other pages of your site. There should be a link back to your home page from each page of your web site. Make it easy for people to find the information.

Use graphics sparingly Images are great but should be used sparingly. One or two small images per page is considered the best practice. Using to many graphics distracts the reader and slows your pages download time. Most readers will leave if the page takes more than 5 seconds to load.

Lastly, please Do not use flashing images on your web site. They are just annoying and make people want to kill you!

There is much more to designing and building a quality web site but these few suggestions are, in my opinion, some of the most important. By following this approach you will be on your way to becoming an accomplished web designer.

Daryl is the creator of the popular web site Web Essentials and other web based educational Internet sites. He is also the author of numerous authoritative articles on web design and development topics. To learn more about web development visit Web Essentials at http://www.pro-dezign.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Putnam