| CLEAN
& SIMPLE WEB SITE LAYOUT |
|
When someone visits your web site you
want them to stay and look around,
right? Well, next to a clean and
simple, well laid out design, the first
thing you should be concerned with when
writing content for your site is that
everything be clear, concise, and
understandable at a glance! Keep it
informative, yet at a level that the
average person will have no trouble
understanding. Keep the
paragraphs to a minimum of five or six
sentences. Leave the big words
out...you're not writing a term paper or
book report...you're just getting
information out there on your
subject.
Stick to the page subject.
People don't want to wade through
information that has nothing to do with
why they went to a particular page. If
you're working on a page about images,
then stick to the image subject.
If you're having someone else write
your content, select them carefully. Just
because they know how to write doesn't
mean they're the best person for the
job. You need someone who can
incorporate keywords effectively while
still keeping a good flow of words, or at
least be able to work with you to do
so.
Remember, visitors will be perfectly
happy to jump to another site when they
can't find what they're looking for
quickly.
|
| FONT SIZE,
COLOR, BACKGROUND |
|
Web site layout can be tricky. Sticking
to 8 or 10 pt font is plenty small
enough. Have you ever been to a
site where the font color is red, so
small you can't read it, and on a black
or blue background? You left the
site, right? There's no reason to stay
where you can't read what you went there
for. Keep your colors in good
contrast, avoiding difficult-to-read
combinations such as black or dark blue
backgrounds with red or blue text. (try
com )
Keep background patterns to a minimum,
as they can sometimes make text difficult
to read.
|
|
| UNDERLINING,
BOLD FONT, UPPER CASE |
|
Underlined text should be kept to
navigation...hyperlinks. If you
underline other text on your site,
visitors may get frustrated when they try
to click on it because most people have
been "programmed" that
underlined text is a hyperlink to be
clicked on! Bold font can help to draw
attention to a specific sentence or link
or other text, but should probably be
kept to just that use. If you make
the entire site in bold text, it will be
more difficult to read, depending on the
font used.
Yes, my headings are
uppercase!
That's where uppercase is put to best
use, and seldom anywhere else.
|
| BLINKING,
MOVING, FLASHING, ETC |
|
Web site layouts that that move and blink
and flash and swirl? How
annoying! If you were to ask 100
people who visit a web site that
"moves" what they think of it,
at least 95 of them will tell you they
left the site almost immediately.
It's difficult for visitors to
concentrate on the real content when
animation takes over.
|
| SPELL-CHECK,
SPELL-CHECK, SPELL-CHECK! |
|
Because I wanted to call attention to
the use of spell-checking, I've used bold
text of a different color in this
paragraph. It is my opinion that
you cannot use spell-check often
enough. Spelling errors can make a
site look very un-professional. Most
word processors include a spell-check
feature. Notepad has only the most
basic features, so if you use it, keep in
mind that it doesn't include a
spell-checker. If you're using a
good WYSIWYG editor, it will have the
spell-check feature. Find it and use
it!
|
|
|
Lay out web site pages so they're easily
readable. Columns can help the word
flow, breaking up a page that could
otherwise seem too long. Bulleted
lists wouldn't hurt a thing, and may help
visitors find what they're looking for
more quickly, if used properly. (you
wouldn't want them all over the page.)
|
|
