Webdesign Rules for Newbies
Author: Devan
Article Posted: 08/04/2007
In making your website, be sure to pay attention to the fundamental designs and details, to create an aesthetically pleasant and yet practicable site. Several rules should be observed before it can qualify as a indexable site
1.Do not use flash intro or subscriber list pop-ups
flash intro are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the purpose of your site without the splash page. Opt-in list popup ads can be very intrusive if you set it to load as soon as the page loads. A discreet subscriber form anywhere on the page can be attractive enough to get your visitors to sign up for your mailing list. You can also set the popup for time-release so it popups later.
2. Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore blatant advertisement so you will be wasting valuable website space. Instead, provide more valuable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors learn about the product first instead of being 'threatened' to buy or miss it. Flashy banner ads do not account for most of the clicks, but text link ads do.
3. Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a clickable and sensible button menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from multi-tiered dropdown menus or complicated Flash based menus . If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4. Have a clear indication of where the user is
Try to provide a site map for menus and submenus, e.g., "You are Here: Home/ Country/ Products/ Price". Visitors like easy surfing when browsing your site, because this gives them the ability to actually read what's on your site.
5. Avoid using video or audio on your site
Audio can be a great plus to a website,if you do it right. If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your articles, you will want to make sure they're not distracted by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.