Web Page Design : An experienced visitor's point of view.
by Daniel DeaneSend this report to me by autoresponder
There are certain things that make a web page easy to
navigate and still others that will chase away visitors.
Below are some tips indicating elements that should be
in place in every web page in your site.
1.IDENTIFICATION
Who are you? Why do you have a web page and why should
they return or do business with you? These are questions
that should be answered on your title page and perhaps
included in some form in every page on your site. A simple
way of contacting you should be in place. One example of
this is an invitation at the bottom of each page, to email
comments to you, with a link that activates the email
portion of the browser.
2.CONTENT & DESIGN
The download period is your most vulnerable time on your
web page. Keep your Index page simple.
Make sure you have text enough in the top of the page to
give the visitor something to read while your graphics are
loading. Keep graphics to a minimum. Use short paragraphs
and a lot of room for the eye to rest. A designer or
advertiser calls this "White Space." "White Space" is VERY
IMPORTANT. It can make or break any advertising space. Too
little makes a document seem too busy. Make sure your
text margins can float if your skill or HTML editor can
manage it. Include graphics that are in harmony with the
rest of the page and the message that you want to present.
Make sure your background and your text can be seen by
persons who are colorblind. AND, if you are colorblind make
sure someone else who is not colorblind previews your work
before uploading it.
Never place a white text on light background or dark text
on a dark background. That is an immediate turnoff. It can
make your visitor very irritated at the page designer. It
may be just the thing to motivate them to look elsewhere for
information and that elsewhere may not be on your site!
=== Handicap Accessibility. If possible, make your site
determine if the visitor browser supports frames. If it does
not, you should have an alternate page(s) with the
information in large type, text only, for persons who are
blind or have other sight problems and are visiting your
site with a text reader machine. You may include an image
in between paragraphs if it is fully described. If you do
not want to do this for some reason the graphics should be
at the end of the document with a warning that they are
there and that this is the end of the text. Again provide
your name, business name, phone number, address, and
email address on this page if you want them to have it.
One last thing on the text only page. . . . Extra borders
and === or -0=-=-= or the like sound like the text machine
or the software has hung up like an old record player.
Please do not use them.
3.SITE MAP or INDEX
This is necessary on every page. Link every page in some
way to every other page in your site. Failing that, use a
frames format and make sure that you preserve your margins
on all sides of the frames. Place your site map in the
right frame. I suggest that you provide a way for the
person to determine where they just came from and a helper
to get them back to the very last page presentation they
visited on your site. The fewer times a visitor needs the
back button on their browser, the less likely they will
leave your site till they have seen it all.
4. It is not advisable to provide invitations to leave
your site on the top of your index page. If you advertise
or provide links to another site, you might want to make sure
there is a way for a visitor who left your site to return
from THAT link. This is called a reciprocal link. You do not
need to hide your links. Just do not leave invitations to
leave where a person is really tempted to do so.
5. When making lists with graphical bullets (such as picture
of a globe, a diamond or ball), if possible make them into
radio buttons or links to the area in your web page that
illustrates your point. When using graphics, remember that
many people will click on a graphic for a description, or
expansion of the information that picture represents. Some
websites use this to their advantage to create pleasant
surprises for their visitor. Some visitors search for those
surprises. Perhaps you should consider providing those
surprises.
6. The more often you change your web page, the more often
a person may visit. There are services of which you may
subscribe that informs the subscribers when a member site
has changed.
7. You may also create a guest register. Many people will
sign the guest register, thus providing you leads for future
activities. You may also notify the resulting mailing list
when your web page has changed. If you are so inclined, a
newsletter will provide you with a further opportunity to
present your views or products.
8. Once you have created your site, view it with as many
browsers as you can. Read your site with an IBM and a
Macintosh. I have been told that 62% of all web sites are
created on a Mac and about 35% of the readers are on Macs.
(Personal Observation)
9. If you are friendly to a Mac User, you have a great
chance to gain his loyalty. He may even advertise your site
to other Mac Users. If you want a lot of positive hits
on your page, create reasons for a Macintosh user to visit
and ask for his referral to your page.
These are only nine of the many suggestions I have made
when visiting a web site. I visit for only 20 minutes. That
is as long as I expect any visitor to remain interested in
any site. If they need the bottom scroll bar to read your
text, I expect them to leave immediately. Your visitor is
your guest. Do not make them work to enjoy your site.
==============================================
Presented by Daniel Deane/ddeane@cdc.net/P.O.Box
3548,
Chattanooga TN 37404 /Publisher of Daniel's InfoZene, a
general interest/public service ezine Internet tips, Humor,
Recipes, PSAs, disability advocacy, and more.
Copyright 1997 Daniel Deane
For more information please send a blank email to:
<mailto:infozene-info@lofcom.com> or
visit...
<http://www.lofcom.com/forms/maillist.html>
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