The size of a web page, and therefore content are dependent on type of information being provided. However, many site visitors don't want to read a condensed version of 'War and Peace' on a single page. See if you can logically break content down into easy to read chunks.

Unless your site is an art gallery, keep images to a minimum. Try using simple 16 colour GIF images as they're small and fast loading.

The following list gives you a few good design tips to consider when preparing your web site content.

-> Do make your text easy to read. -> Do use short sentences. -> Do break up your text into paragraphs. -> Do use bullets and lists to make your point. -> Create textual variation with heading size and colour but don't make your text too small to read easily. -> Be consistent - consistency creates a professional image. -> Don't use fancy fonts except as 16 colour GIFs as your masterpiece may not display correctly on every browser. -> Don't use weird text colour/background colour combinations. -> Stick to one colour for each font type (eg Headings - blue, sub headings - teal, main text - black) -> Don't be too adventurous with changing hyperlink colours. Many people, especially newbies, expect blue, underlined links. -> Leave white space to create a 'clean' looking design. -> Ask two or three friends (who's opinions you value) how they find your site navigation and layout.

You can also experiment with cascading style sheets (CSS) and bold, italics or even highlighted words and phrases. For example, this code inserted into your document will create a yellow highlight over word 'Highlight'. Highlight

All preparation may seem like a whole lot of hard work, but it will pay off. Over lifetime of your web site, good layout design and navigation allow your site to grow without creating you massive headaches.

ø Using similar coloured background and text. Ensure your text has enough contrast for viewers to read easily.

ø Using garish or extreme background and text colour combinations. Nothing puts me (and thousands of other web users) off faster than trying to read text on a garish background colour. Keep text easy to read.

ø ALL CAPITALS. THIS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING AT YOUR SITE VISITORS! It's also much harder to read a document only written in capitals. It is acceptable for headings.

ø Flashing text, scrolling text and other 'special effects'. Flashing text is not pleasant to watch and puts people off. The only place scrolling text should appear is in tickers and news headlines (and only in former, in my opinion, as it's very hard to read).

ø Multiple fonts. A good quality professional document will not use more than 2 or 3 fonts on a page. This rule applies both offline and online. Too many fonts are distracting, so if you want variety, decide on one font for headings, and one for text - then stick to them throughout your document. When designing a web site, it is best to maintain consistency throughout site by sticking with same fonts on every page.

If you do want to use a non standard font in your web page, try making it into a graphic. You can do this easily with a graphic editor. Just set canvas to transparent, type your word or phrase with your desired font, then save it as a .GIF.

If you haven't specified an absolute text size in your style sheets or font tags, your font size can be changed by your site visitor. On Internet Explorer, it's 'Text Size' on 'View' menu. So, if you want to fix your font size, ensure it's large enough for majority of people to read, as older people will want text at 11 or 12 points or higher.

Look around on web and you'll see plenty of good and bad examples of text. If you're in doubt about your work, leave your masterpiece a day or two, then take a fresh look at it. And, ask a couple of friends to have a look and let you know what they think.