Websites are judged by content and layout.
If your web page is not appealing, visitors will not come back.
Follow these important design points:
- Keep it simple:
A simple website is user friendly. Be sure to use elements that load correctly
in different browsers. Do not use bulky images; they take too long to
load.
Use small icons instead.
- Readable font size and
face:
Use a standard font size of 11 or 12 pixels so your page can be read easily. Select
a web safe font face: Verdana, Arial,
Georgia or
Times New Roman.
- Use web safe colors:
Color choice reflects your personal taste. Every web designer wants great
color combinations. REMEMBER: To avoid surprises when viewing in different
browsers, choose web safe colors.
- Webpage Dimensions:
Keep track of your page dimensions. Most successful websites limit the
width and height of the page so that the important content lies within the
top 600x600 viewable area without scrolling.
The page height should not exceed 4 scroll lengths. Limit your content. If
you need more space, move it to a new page. Be sure to add a navigational
link to and from the new page.
- Limit File Size:
Webpage size is defined by the total size of text, images and supporting
files that are downloaded from the server. Smaller page sizes load faster.
If you go to Google.com, you will see very limited images. They do this so
that their site loads extra fast. Page size is critical for high volume
websites because of the high bandwidth needed. It is important to keep loading
times fast on any site.
There is a trade off between making your webpage exciting with lots of
graphics and making it quick loading. Try to keep your opening page below
35K. Most visitors will leave your site if the loading time is more than 8
seconds.