Here you will find some necessary design guidelines that are generally followed in the web design industry. You only get one chance to make a good first impression! So design a clean, friendly and easy to navigate web site. Keep it simple for both the humans and search engine spiders. The more bells & whistles you have on your website the more it becomes difficult for search engines to spider your website. Humans too, are more receptive towards simple web designs. The use of too many colors is a sign of an amateur. It distracts the visitor and feels amateurish. Therefore, choose only two three colors. Also limit your special effects. Special effects should be used for impact, not as the basis of your design. Just because they are there, does not mean you must use them. Simplicity rules! KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE. Here are some professional level tips.
Web Design Guidelines for Using Fonts: If your site does not use standard fonts (such as Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman) the chances are that your visitors won’t see your fonts as you want them to see. It may appear altogether different on their computers. So, live with standard fonts. This Web Design Guide is written in Verdana. It is extremely easy to see. Furthermore the text should always be dark on a light background. Your content is intended for easier reading. Use bolds and underlines only when you want to emphasize some point. Don’t use graphics for a paragraph of text unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also make sure to include an “Alt Tag”, to make your image visible to search engine spiders. Links to other sites should be blue and underlined.
Web Design Guidelines for Display and Width: One of the first things about the professional Web site design is understanding that your site will be viewed on a variety of computer platforms and browsers. Mostly it doesn’t matter, but occasionally it does. Although the standard screen resolutions for those with good eyesight are 1024 by 768 pixels, many folks still use 800 by 600. So, you should design for the lowest common of screen size, which is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. This will ensure that all people can see the whole page on their display. It is better to design your pages so that they are consistent across various platforms. It’s a good idea to design your entire page for 800×600, but keep the width of text within 640 pixels. People with older computers will still be able to read your content, even if some parts of the page require scrolling. If you must use images, do not forget to include ALT text. Your image name should be keyword focused. Images are for humans only. Search engine spiders cannot see them. So, it’s a good idea to name the image with ALT Text to make it visible for the search engine spiders.
Web Design Guidelines for Developing Consistent Navigation: In making professional Web site design, consistency is the most important factor to keep in mind. Nothing is more unprofessional in Website design than a different colored background for every page. Backgrounds, colors, fonts, navigation buttons all need to present your site visitor with the same appearance. Your visitors should be able to navigate to any page on your site within three mouse clicks of the homepage. Keep this simple rule in mind. Remember the 3-Tier website structure from my article “How to Plan a Website?” You can keep your website elements consistent when you use the same template for every page on your site. Essentially, consistency is about making it easy for your visitors to find what they want. Use headlines and underlines clearly to identify headings. Each page should be clearly identified and fonts should be consistent in color and size from page to page. You want your readers to become accustomed to a consistent website layout, so they can move quickly and easily through your website.
Your Home Page should link to each Tier-2 Page. Each Tier-2 Page should have a link back to home page. Your site’s home page should act as the crossroads, the point of origin for all traffic going into your site. Always include a link to home on every single page. This way, if users do get confused, or just want to start over from the top, they’re only one click away. You should always put navigation bars on the left side unless it is impossible. You visitors want your navigation bar to appear on the left side of the screen, and that is where they look for it. So do not deviate from the standard.
Web Design Guidelines for Page Backgrounds: No one likes to waste time squinting to read text on floral, striped, or otherwise busy backgrounds, not even you. You will most likely get a headache just looking at the background. Imagine if you had to read a portion of text with that image in the background.
Web Design Guidelines for Pages that load Fast: Your visitors are in hurry. They would not stay on website that takes time to load. The more bells and whistles you include in your website design the more time it takes to load. Therefore, page elements that slow down the time it takes to display your pages may be forcing your impatient surfers to escape. Large or animated graphics, Flash, and audio elements of any kind disrupt the bandwidth. Your website design may include graphics that are compressed to the smallest size without affecting appearance. So it is vital that you keep page sizes as low as possible.
Pop-Ups: Pop-ups are not very popular with Web surfers. Most of them use pop-up blockers on their browsers. Focus on your customers, and limit the use of pop-ups as much as possible.
Check Your Website Design in all Three Browsers: Keep checking your Web design on at least the latest versions of the most popular web browsers i.e. Internet Explorer and Firefox. While no site looks identical on all monitors, browsers, and computers, you can design sites that look good on all, but only if you test the site on all.
Design for the whole site, not the particular element. Make sure that your web site elements complement each other and deliver the overall mood and impact that you want your viewers to experience. Consider these points seriously. Do not design just to please yourself. Gurus recommend simple designs, including easy, clean left-hand navigation. Clean, simple designs and navigation are favorites to both humans and search engine spiders. The spiders can’t see the design, but they do love easy-to-follow navigation! Humans, of course, love both design and easy navigation. And eventually, the engines track human response. Moral of the story:
Keep these website design guidelines in mind and look around for the other Websites on the net and learn from what you see. That doesn’t mean copying, but instead, studying what others have done and understanding what works and what doesn’t. Here are some great online resources helpful to professional Web site design. Keep Learning! Avoid Politics and religion. Include only those pages that are relevant to your topic. Let your individuality shine through on your own voice. Inject your own unique sense of humor and personality. Give your readers a reason to come back for more of your personal wit and wisdom. Keep your design clean and simple, with plenty of white space. Don’t confuse surfer with a multitude of choices. Make it easy for him to find his way to access content, and to buy. Limit your use of exotic design elements such as Flash technology. You want your site to be attractive, but you are not entering an art contest. Keep your attention, and your visitor’s attention, on your message. Ease of navigation must be one of your primary considerations. When your visitor reaches your home page, he should be able to instantly understand the layout of the site and links to all the other pages. As much as possible, link all your pages to each other. Your over-delivering quality content will keep them in!
