Web design is an important part in advertising a business. Being important, the process of web designing can be really challenging to the webmaster or designer engaging in it. Apart from the content, keywords, SEO, design, navigability and search engine marketing there are certain things that many things that a webmaster must not overindulge. Doing more than what is needed can yield negative returns and create a business loss.
Empathizing with the needs of the patrons and stakeholders before designing a website is highly important for a best web designer. He must research up on website information and read books written by experts and finally apply the knowledge gained therein. He must remember the features and characteristics of a miserable website before starting up the new website.
1. These websites do not tell the users about their operations and business.
2. They do not provide any email address and contact information to correspond.
3. They use horrible, unmatching colors for their web pages.
4. They use ugly and unpresentable backgrounds.
5. They use ludicrous text that does not coincide with their background making the text unreadable.
6. They contain spelling and grammar errors.
Keeping these thumbnails in mind at the first instance is the key duty of any web designer. He must ensure that he does not indulge in any of the above faults.
Other Keep-In-Mind Points
1. Avoid Multimedia And Plug-Ins
A website is bound to loose customers if it uses pointless pug-ins and multimedia. These things can be a real nuisance.
A visitor will have to download the stuff put up by you and it will be a time consuming process. He may not get the information outright and this can tempt him to move on to other websites for more relevant content and information. You must hence, introspect if the website really needs these plug-ins. A music and entertainment website can use these things as it suits their business needs. However, in most cases plug-ins and viewers are not recommended. Also, be particular about the formats the viewers can use.
.HTML, .GIF, and .JPEG images can be fine. Sound formats like .WAV, .Au, .AIF can be handy. Do not provide PostScript document files unless you are sure that the user has a PostScript viewer.
2. Use Old Version HTML
A designer does not need to be too clever and use the latest version of HTML. Remember that most specific features do not go well with certain universal browsers. The latest versions and features can be highly attractive and useful. The may have several user-friendly interface technologies and may be far more sophisticated than the older versions. However, a webmaster needs to remember that most of the visitors do not use latest versions immediately. Therefore, he may need to use the previous version to see traffic and referrals remain good.
Two Versions Of A Website
However if a webmaster is confused about the technology to use, he may create two versions of a website: one for the new version and another for the old version browsers. This may however require a large amount of time. A webmaster must go ahead only if he has done enough research and is sure that this will be of use to the business.
Moving Beyond a Site That's Just "What You Like"
By Jennifer Kyrnin, About.com
See More About:beginning web designweb usabilitytesting web sitesSponsored Links
Get a Master's Degree
in human-computer interaction, information architecture, usability
iat.ubalt.edu/idia
Mobile User Experience
11th - 12th November 2008 Personalising the user experience
www.deviceanduserexperience.com
International Usability
User interface design and testing of interactive services & products
www.uid.com
Web Design Ads
HTML Web Design
Mailing Software
Engineering Design
Product Design
Cheap Logo Design
Many people get into Web design and development because they secretly want to be designers. Think about it, when you first found the TextArt in Word, you fell in love. Every one of your documents had to have some fancy coding and pretty text or images, even if it was just the color of the text.
HTML and Web Development gives people who would normally be programmers working with code a chance to be more visually creative, and this is fun.
But there can be a science behind Web design. Your choice of font and the width of your page shouldn't just be based on "what you like". Follow these simple steps to be more scientific in your Web design:
Usability Testing
Usability testing can be as elaborate or simple as you need, but no matter whether you have your mom look at your pages or do a complete usability test scenario, you should have someone not familiar with your site look at it. If you can, try to be in the room while they test. Watch what they click on and what they ignore. If they're ignoring your buy button and you've created an ecommerce site this is a serious problem.
Browser testing
Never assume that because it looks fine in your favorite browser, that it will look fine in every other one. This also includes the same browser on another operating system. Check your Web page on every combination of browser and OS that you can get your hands on.
Learn from Desktop Publishing and Established Design Principles
Many new Web designers have never had any formal training in design and end up trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to layout and style rules. Line lengths for readability, colors for emphasis, and margins for look are all basic principles of DTP and can be translated to the Web.
Use your log files
Log files can be very tedious, but the are a valuable tool for designers. Get a good log analysis tool and use it to find out thing like:
where people go from your front page
what they click on the most
what pages are least successful
Once you have this information, you can modify your site to lead your customers where you want them to go.
Don't be afraid to redo
One of the biggest advantages to the Web is how easy it is to make changes. If you create a design and later it doesn't work as well as you'd planned, then change it.
Designing a Web site is a lot of fun, but bringing some structure and science into the design will help you create a page that your customers will find beautiful and usable.
Custom design of the home page for a small business client is not much different than making a contract to construct a new brick and mortar home for their private residence. When complete each should be functional according to the owner's specifications, and each demands interaction between the client and contractor to meet expectations before it's time to move into that lovely new home.
Let's have some fun and compare a new house and a website in a way that may help put this relationship into perspective.
To succeed most new homeowners know that their (online) home is necessary to compete. Customers are less likely to buy from you if you lack the sophistication of another vendor if their (online) home is up and running while you are homeless.
Having designed custom websites for more than 10 years, and interacted with other web developers in online communities where we share advice to help newcomers to website design, I have discovered some common problems.
The most difficult part of designing a new home is the obligation for interaction between the two parties. As the homeowner, only that owner knows their expectations for the performance of the new house, and that information must be communicated effectively to the contractor. Most designers will ask the right questions to determine the size, number of rooms, and functionality of the appliances in the new home. The complexity of the project will be fairly clear before the actual contractual agreement takes place.
At this point many homeowners only imagine the finished product and overlook their obligation to stay involved during the development and construction of the new home. It would be different if they decided on do-it-yourself, but with someone else taking the lead many drop out and simply look forward to moving day. It's not that simple, and herein lays the biggest problem.
The contractor is not a mind reader, and it is highly unlikely they are an expert in your niche. The information you internalize and take for granted must be extracted and communicated to your new home designer to ensure the success of your project. Take the time to do this and be prepared to discuss your needs in detail before you commit to a contract.
Analyze 5 key elements to define and document your expectations as follows:
1. layout
2. benefits
3. performance
4. promotion
5. growth
The project cost will depend on your needs. If you specify and pay for a cottage and later you request features for a mansion, expect a price increase from the original contract. This may seem silly, but it happens more often than some people realize. The complexity of your project will affect cost. A simple design takes less effort than a highly interactive design which requires more technology and time to complete.
Unless you specify what you want initially, how it will perform, and the future plans for growth, your finished project may result in disappointment. Any contract to perform is worthless if in the end either party resents the deal.
Let's drop the website and house analogy now, and focus on a real website for a small business owner. The client should prepare a plan in advance and below are suggestions using the previous 5 item list. For a small business website, each element should be analyzed to make sure you communicate your needs to the website designer.
Layout
A familiar look to match printed materials is important for your website. If your business is brand new, establishing your corporate identity should be done and approved in a logical order with the logo, then a business card, other printed materials, and finally the website. Branding your company requires a consistent look in print and online. You may also want to search and view websites that belong to your competition, and give the web addresses to the designer to better communicate what you like.
Benefits
Your business is unique even if 1000 other companies within 100 miles do exactly what you do. When all things seem equal, the personality and character of you and your staff makes you unique. Prepare a list of the benefits people enjoy doing business with you. Stay focused on positive aspects including quality, price, delivery, and service, and then list these as bullets in a word processor that you can copy and paste into an email to send to your designer. Write 10-20 benefit statements in short phases or sentences to communicate and share what's stored between your ears.
Performance
Your website allows you to present more information online than can possibly fit on a business card. One page may be fine if your business is local and all you want is the sophistication of a www domain name on your business card. Multiple page static sites are more likely to draw search engine traffic, so be prepared with a larger budget for this information only website. If you require an interactive site with contact forms, client login with passwords, full eCommerce including a shopping cart, or similar advanced features, the price increase will be substantial. Know what you want and tell the designer.
Promotion
If the internet were compared to a forest then your website is just 1 tree among 6 billion pages online. If you want to be noticed, some form of off site promotion will be necessary. Make sure your www domain name is on all printed marketing materials. Add it to your email signature. If your business involves ground travel, have the www domain on your vehicles. For larger or interactive sites that depend on search engine driven traffic, you cannot simply launch a website and expect visitors automatically. Advanced promotion takes time and effort, and although your website designer should be able to make suggestions, be prepared with an ongoing annual budget for promotion.
Growth
As your business grows you may want the website to expand as well. Some small business website owners want a highly interactive website including the ability to add, remove, or change content without the assistance of the original designer. Some will negotiate a rate up front and delegate this service. Regardless, looking ahead in anticipation of future needs for your online presence should be reviewed up front and on a regular basis. If you decide you want to take over managing your website, there are no easy solutions because the learning curve may be steep. The added cost bears consideration, so be prepared to make a decision about what you need versus what you want.
Based on experience, here is some advice to assist small business website owners maximizing the relationship with their designer. Plan ahead using the points already given before you even contact the designer. Being prepared to discuss your expectations is more likely to result in a finished project where neither party resents the deal. If in the course of the project development you decide more features are required, expect to pay accordingly.
Understand what you need. Aside from the website design you need a www domain name registration priced per year, and monthly hosting for storing your site online. As simple as that seems, it is surprising how much can go wrong if these two basic needs are handled poorly. The options are too numerous to detail here, yet if purchasing a domain and hosting is new to you, seek the advice of your designer. Mistakes my clients have made have delayed projects by weeks or months.
For a static site that will not change, the annual cost for the domain and hosting should be less than $100 USD. For an interactive site the design fee may be more, but the annual cost to remain online should still be less than $100 USD. Sites requiring advanced promotion or ongoing maintenance to add, revise, or delete content could add several 1000 dollars to your cost.
Finally, acknowledge emailed progress updates or requests for information from your designer. From experience, clients have ignored or overlooked multiple emailed requests to clarify content needed to continue with the design, and then weeks later questioned why a given page was not done. One example was a simple application form which was not part of the original proposal, required a list of fields for the form, and incurred an additional design fee for the add-on. Failing to respond with timely communications only delays the launch or your website.
Jim Degerstrom writes small business advice based on 30 years in management, sales, and marketing, including GM or President of small companies in 5 states. He is proficient in website and graphic art design, and runs his online Small Business Resource Center and offers advice on his Small Business Advice Blog from Kissimmee, Florida USA.
The perception amongst designers that improving accessibility or designing accessible web sites is a process that necessitates switching from visual attractiveness to extreme simplicity. If we look at this issue from the designers' point of view we see that making such a compromise is often something many are not willing to make.
This article aims to give designers some tips on how to maintain attractiveness of a website while focusing on accessibility and users. One might not be able to achieve both in the same degree but it is a step forward for designers just starting out on the accessibility path.
Alternatives for different audiences
For those who know their Internet audiences well it is possible to avoid making visual compromises and at the same time increase accessibility. While your average Internet users may feel comfortable and relaxed with your site's visual layout the visually impaired or those with disabilities, may encounter difficulties.
Although the purpose of accessible web design is to create a universally usable copy of a website, sometimes it is impossible to do so due to client requirements, site profile or other objective reasons. In this case, it is good practice to provide a basic accessible version of the site.
Basic web site version
A basic version of a website is "stripped" of all visual elements that are not necessary. This includes mainly graphics but also different styles such as link colours, text colour, background etc. One can obtain a basic accessible copy of their site by gradually removing all elements that are not directly part of the content. If the website works - that is, is perfectly usable - then that specific visual element was not completely necessary and removing it did not diminish the experience of using the web site.
When is a basic accessible version welcome?
If your website is using new technology like Flash, JavaScript or is simply graphic-heavy, it would be best to provide on the homepage the alternative of a html only version for Flash and JavaScript sites or a low graphics version. Providing such versions is not only beneficial to disabled users but to those who, from various reasons (such as slow Internet connections or old browsers) cannot fully enjoy modern web sites.
Keep design attractiveness and increase accessibility
Those who do intend to create a universally accessible web site version for all their users can implement several changes to preserve visual attractiveness for their users.
Design a visually balanced layout. If you feel your website could do without a certain visual element then remove it. If you feel it adds to the design attractiveness make sure you implement it with care as to not disrupt the balance or take away from usability.
Provide ALT and TITLE tags to all visual elements such as graphics. This allows disabled users to retrieve the message behind the graphics. Braille or speech based browsers use these tags in order to describe the visual message in the graphics.
Try to implement liquid design where possible. This allows users to use their own browser or settings preferences while enjoying the design to the fullest.
Do not create graphics only web sites. Try to stay away from single-images splash pages or use text within images. Disabled users or those who have their graphics turned off or those on slow connections will find it difficult and tedious to use.
Keep in mind that a visually attractive layout can be achieved using a sensible and balanced mix of graphics and colours.
Testing visually stripped web sites
In order to test and experience what visually challenged people experience when using your web site, try to use it after you've turned off graphics. If you can still identify key layout elements like navigation and can find your way easily around it then so will your users. Disabling javascript might also create issues with navigation. Make sure that users who disable javascript can still jump from page to page to the desired content
Graphics
Think small, like 10-12KB per image. Yes, depending on the source, the number of broadband users is going up. But slow pages are still really annoying, even if you're on a T1. And huge images are a primary cause of slow pages. It's easy to optimize your images.
Always use graphics that fit the content. Just because you have an adorable photo of your dog doesn't mean you should have it on your Web site about Web Design (sorry, Shasta...). The main exception I would make to this is for "design" images. These are photos or graphics that help make up the design of the page, and are not intended to illustrate the content.
Do not use images that blink or move or change or rotate or flash or do anything on your page. Or use them sparingly. There have been many studies that show that flashing graphics are distracting and annoying to people. In fact, in one focus group I watched the browsers actually physically cover up flashing graphics so that they could read the rest of the page.
Layout
Stick with standard layouts. I've seen some pages that use 6 or 8 frames on one page. Another site used a layout where you had to scroll to the right to read everything on the page (but you never had to scroll down). These layouts are cute, and you might find them fun to build, but they will drive your readers nuts. The reason that the 3-column layout is so popular on Web sites and newspapers is because it works. You might think it's boring, but you'll keep more readers if you stick with something simple that they can understand.
Whitespace is more than the CSS property, it is a function of your layout. You should be aware of the whitespace on your pages and how it affects how the content is viewed. Whitespace is just as important in a Web layout as it is in a paper layout.
Use your graphics as elements in your layouts. Graphics can be more than just graphics when you use them as actual elements in your layouts. An extreme example is when you wrap text around an image, but any image you have on your site is a layout element and should be treated as such.
Fonts
Serif for headlines and Sans-Serif for text. If you've taken any type of print design, this might be exactly the opposite of what you were taught. But the Web is not print. Sans-serif fonts are much easier to read on computer monitors because the screen resolution is not as high as in print. If you use serif fonts for normal text, the serifs can blur together on the screen making them hard to read. Your printer friendly page should use the opposite fonts (serif for headlines and sans-serif for text).
Limit the number of different fonts. One of the best ways to make your Web site look amateurish is to change the font over and over. Sure, it's possible to do, but limiting your page and site to 2 or possibly 3 standard font families is easier to read and looks more professional.
Use standard font families. Yes, you can choose to use "Rockwood LT Standard" as your font on your page, but the chances that one of your readers will have that font as well is pretty low. Sticking with fonts like Verdana, Geneva, Arial, and Helvetica may seem boring, but your pages will look better and the designs look correct on more browsers.
Advertising
Don't be greedy. If you have any control over the number of ads on your site, be aware that your readers are not coming to read the ads, they are coming for the content. If the ads overwhelm the page content, many readers won't stick around long enough to read your purple prose. Yes, it's important to make money from your Web site, but if your ads drive people away, you'll ultimately lose money.
Treat ads as you would any other image. Keep them small, avoid blinking/flashing, and keep them relevant. Just because you can have an ad on your site, doesn't mean that you should. If the content is relevant to your readers, they're more likely to click on the ad.
Remember Your Readers
Test your pages in multiple browsers. Writing Web pages that work only on the most modern browser is both stupid and annoying. Unless you are writing a Web site for a corporate intranet or a kiosk where the browser version is completely fixed, you'll have problems with people not being able to view your pages.
The same is true for operating systems. You can't assume that just because your page works in IE5.0 for Windows it will work in IE5.0 for Macintosh.
Write content that they want. Unless you're writing a site purely for yourself (and if you are, why is it posted to the Web?), make sure that your content covers topics that your readers want to read.
