Good Web Design – What is it?

Written by Ryan Fyfe


There is unlimited possibilities when it comes to designing a website. Flash, Database, content management, Client Login, etc,etc. A question to ask yourself when deciding how to do your website is:

How can I most effectively present my information to my visitors

Of course there are several things to consider like budget but I feel that when talking strictly design it is important to put your visitors as first priority as they arerepparttar reason you are buildingrepparttar 138620 website.

  • Flash - Flash I find is normally over done. It can do wonders to a site if used right, but it can also make a site look awful if not used correctly. To simply put it: If you have multimedia content on your website consider flash, if you don’t: stay away from it altogether. Flash is more time consuming to develop, and it can take away a lot of important aspects from your sites like Search Engine Optimization.
  • Database - Adding a database back end to your site can be very useful if you are going to be storing a lot of data, or if you are going to be changing information often. If you are just simply putting a page with your contacts online, I wouldn’t recommend using a database backend, again forrepparttar 138621 time that it costs to develop and especially forrepparttar 138622 minor benefit that you will see. Onrepparttar 138623 other hand if you are storing all of your products online and you needrepparttar 138624 ability to update/add/delete products often I wouldn’t recommend not using a database and some type of content management.
  • Content Management - Content management is most likely used with a database back end in which you will have a control panel that you can use to “Manage Content”. Content that can be managed is anything and everything. Sample uses for Content Management are:

  • Website Usability - How to Make Your Website User-Friendly

    Written by Regina Stevens


    In this article we'll cover some basics of website usability, in other words, making your website user-friendly. This article in no way covers everything you should keep in mind prior to designing your website - there is much more. I have listed five questions you should initially consider. I will be brief with each question just to give you a few tips to get you started. Keep in mind that testing isrepparttar most important task and should be conducted frequently.

    a.Do visitors know which page they are viewing?

    The best way to ensure your visitors don't get lost on your website is if you title your pages. Make sure this title isrepparttar 138465 title in your navigation area too. On your home page, orrepparttar 138466 one that is your "index.html" or "index.htm", you don't have to titlerepparttar 138467 page "HOME PAGE". It could be titled "About Us" or a page you want your visitors to see as soon as they open your website. If your "index.html" page is your "About Us" page, then putrepparttar 138468 header/title "About Us" atrepparttar 138469 top ofrepparttar 138470 page. In other words, every page should have a heading so that your visitors will know what page they are currently viewing.

    b.Can your visitor easily get to other pages using your navigational area?

    Make sure that if you have 5 main pages in your website, there are 5 links in your navigation area withrepparttar 138471 exact titles asrepparttar 138472 titles on your pages. With this in mind, don't make your titles too long. If you have articles on your website, make one link titled "Articles" in your navigation area. Onrepparttar 138473 "Articles" page, list your article titles inrepparttar 138474 body of that particular page becauserepparttar 138475 article titles will be longer.

    c.Does my background color and text color make a good combination?

    You will need to take this into serious consideration. If your color scheme is unappealing, visitors will leave no matter how good your subject matter may be. Ifrepparttar 138476 combination causes eye strain or headache, your visitors will leave your website and may not return. Examples: blue background with red text, lime green background with yellow text, red background with yellow text, etc. One other background I would like to mention: patterned/tiled backgrounds. These can be overwhelming torepparttar 138477 eye. No text will be readable on these types of backgrounds - at least not without difficulty. If you must have a patterned/tiled background, make it look like a watermark - full color patterned/tiled backgrounds will send your visitors away quicker than ice cream melts on a hot stove.

    d.Are my photos too big or do I have too many on a page?

    Cont'd on page 2 ==>
     
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