 
Fast
Loading web site designs
This is the number 1 tip that
every web designer should follow. You might design a
web site that looks fantastic but few people are going
to see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs
should be optimized for the web and should not take
more than 15 seconds to load. Remember, you might have
a great design but very few people are going to see
it if it takes a long time to load.
Clear Navigation
Once a visitor has come to your
site you need to make them go through your site. To
do this you need to have clear navigation. Make sure
all your important links are at prominent places. Preferably
right on top - that's usually where a visitor first
looks. Make use of menus on the right and the left.
Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let your
information be accessible from all parts of the site.
You never know what a visitor may be interested in.
Try to also use the footer for your important links.
All Resolutions
Today, there are computers with
all kinds of resolution. They range from 640 x 480 to
1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your job is to design
your site for all these resolutions. The best way to
do this is to design your site in terms of percentage
and not pixels.
Browser Compatibility
Make sure your site is browser
compatible. Your web site should look good in Netscape
as well as in Internet Explorer. Don't stop designing
your site as soon as you find that it looks great on
IE. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially
when you try doing complicated HTML designs. But don't
give up too soon, usually with patience these problems
can be easily fixed.
Readable and professional looking fonts
Don't ask me how many times I've
clicked out of a site just because the font is in Comic
Sans and the color is a bright pink or green. Just by
looking at the font you feel that the site is not a
professional site. Don't use Comic Sans and other fancy
fonts that may not be available on most computers. If
the font you use is not available in a visitors computer
the web site will use the default font of your computer
which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional
web fonts. The fonts that I always stick to are Arial
and Verdana.
Minimize the use of images
I believe that sometimes simple designs are the most
effective for the web. Keep your site simple but neat.
Don't clutter your page with big, bulky images that
take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively and
design eye - catching icons that will draw a visitor's
attention to a particular section of your site. Tip
- Visitors are usually more interested in content than
in design.
Use of white space
Try not to clutter up your page
with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts.
Again use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing
the use of graphics and using a lot of white space.
White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall
neatness to a site. Notice the white space in our site.
Check for broken links
Always check for broken links
within a site before uploading it to your web server.
In Dreamweaver you can check for broken links by right
clicking on any file in the Site Files Window and then
clicking on Check links - Entire Site. If you don't
have this facility you need to upload your site and
then check it using online tools like Net Mechanic.
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