The best tips for creating websites
Jan Helge Schmeisky / Web Page Management, East High School / 01-06-1998
1.) When creating a Web Site you should plan ahead by mapping out your web on paper. Don't try and do everything at once, use a project approach. Before starting think of who your target audience(s) are and design accordingly. For example, if you try to reach audience(s) in foreign countries create pages in their language. Think about the file names that you are going to assign different files. Do they make sense? You should consider that some of the sites need to be updated. By keeping things simple you encourage people to come back to your web site.
2.) The most occurring problem related to WebPages are graphics. Keep file sizes down by compressing the picture. You should try to use the same logo or bar on different pages because so it is already in the cache. Take also care of the dimensions. Do not use file formats like BMP, they are too big. People surfing your web site do not want to wait long and they do not want to scroll to see hidden parts of a picture.Avoid making your pages a jungle of significantly unrelated or unnecessary images. Make sure they relate in some way to your text or page name. Limit the size of graphics (or combined non-text elements) on any one page to a maximum of 25Kb. It doesn't matter how good your site is - if it takes too long to download users might simply press the 'stop' button and go elsewhere, without having a chance to be 'sucked-in' by superior multi-media elements. Average download rates for home users with14.4K modems is 1Kb per second, rising to 1.8Kb per second for a 28.8K modem.
3.)Visually connect elements on a page - This makes your page
organized and more coherent. When you place elements on a page,
try to have them visually connect or line up with other items on
a page. You can do this with the aid of margins on the top,
bottom, center, left, and right portions of your page. Remember
to pick strong alignments and stick to them,and also use the
principle of proximity. This help page, for example, has a strong
left alignment.
Tip: Centering items on your page tends to be messier and less
dramatic than aligning them to a strong left or right margin.
4.) Another big and important thing to look at are links. Check all your links twice before uploading your website. You should also check the links maybe once a week. The web is changing every day. Sites disappear as fast as they appear. Links like this one that are not working upset visitors.
5.) Colorful backgrounds are tremendously impressive, but they take forever to load on-screen. There's also the problem of superimposing text and images (some background images make what's in the foreground difficult or impossible to read). When you chose to take yellow on your windows computer there might occur some serious problems on Macintosh computers because the color palettes are slightly different. Colors that are too bright can be hard to look at, especially after sitting in front of a computer for a couple of hours. If your background is too loud, your visitors will move on. A busy background can make the text difficult to read. A background with too much design draws your eye towards it and away from the text. The background is not the most important part of your design. Sure, those backgrounds look cool, but in the long run, they're a bad choice.
6.) There are things that you have to include like your e-mail address. Most people won't write to you. Don't worry.You won't be swamped with mail. Generally you only get two types of feedback. 1.Favorable 2.Error notices. A link to the home page on every page - remember that someone can link to any page on your site. If you include a link back to the home page, they'll be able to see more of your site. If you don't include it, they'll have to go back to where they came from, another person's page. Also, it makes it less frustrating to get around your site. Last Updated - This makes it much easier for return visitors. They won't waste their time looking at everything that they've already seen. Small new icons and/or what's new page - Much better than randomly browsing, hoping to stumble upon something new. Bookmark reminder - It's ok to remind your viewer to bookmark. Many times they will forget. And if they like your site, they'll be glad you reminded them. But do not let your site automatically bookmark. It might upset visitors.
7.) If you design with frames, include a link to a frame free version of your site. Don't go frame crazy. Only use frames if it really does make your site easier to navigate. Really, the only examples of this are if you have many pages or if your site demands viewing two pages at once. Five pages does not qualify for many. Fifty does. If you use frames only use the number that is necessary. Two is generally the limit. It's very rare that a site demands more. A frame at the top, one on the left and one to right, for example, are incredibly confusing.
8.)Flavor your page with contrasting elements -This creates
visual interest on your page. Contrast also helps you highlight
or emphasize certain elements. You can create contrast by using
different font types and sizes, different alignments, different
spacing, different colors, etc. The key is to make the contrast
very strong and apparent. If the elements you want to contrast
aren't different enough from each other,they will interfere with
each other, rather than contrast each other. Your goal is to make
the elements contrasting enough so that the difference really
stands out. For example, notice how the "Web Design"
header for this help page is very different from the rest of the
help page. The header uses a different type of font, is much
bigger, and has a different color.
Tip: Use PhotoShop to make text of different sizes, colors, and
fonts. Make the text into .GIF files and use them in your
webpage. For best results on your web page, use all four of these
principles of design; they are all inter-related.
9.) If you do use video or audio, state the type(.mov, .avi .au, .wav) and size of the file. If have music automatically load with your site, include a way for your visitor to turn it off. You may love the music, but they may not!
(c) 1997, 1998 Jan H. Schmeisky / No parts of this page may be copied without expressed written permission of the author.
Last revised: 03/29/98