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Rules to Remember in Web Site Design

A good aesthetic appeal can never make up for a lack in performance where your website design is concerned. One common error found in a web design is the existence of large and heavy files that require tremendous amount of patience on the part of the visitor to actually be able to view it.

Here are five basic website design rules to help you in your quest to achieve maximum web performance for maximum results.

1) For whatever reasons you may have, resist the temptation to include splash pages

The first pages of a website that consists of dazzling fancy displays are the splash pages. Made up of pretty designs, they are usually lavish images and graphics with accompanying words such as ‘welcome to our site’ or ‘click here to enter’. These are merely distractions that can divert attention away from the purpose of your website. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the ‘back’ button!

2) Reduce the number of banners on your site

Some sites have a number of these advertising banners displayed around the page but the most prominent place is at the top. Even the newbie to the internet have trained themselves to ignore banner ads so placing them would only waste precious real estate space. A better solution would be to add useful web contents and weave affiliate links artfully into them.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered drop down menus. When navigation becomes hard and frustrating, they will leave your site for good and you will probably never get them back. It is good in any website design to include a sitemap to help them find what they are looking for.

4) There should be a clear indicator showing where the user is currently on the website

Give them a clear view of where they are now and how to get to where they want to be. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. When each link that has been visited is marked in some way form the ones that are fresh, visitors can easily know which is fresh and which is fresh and which is not. Any type of confusion drives your visitors away.

5) Try to prevent yourself from using audio on your site

If you wish for your visitors to stay long enough to read the contents, do not loop your music file in a way that irritates. The sounds when added can enhance an experience, but when played over and over gain it can start to be irritating. It may be a cool thing to include some music but do give your users some form of control such as muting ability or volume control. If you diligently apply these website design tips, you will be rewarded with retuning visitors again and again to your website.