Certifications
Our Web Design Principles 1. Your web site should be easy to read The most important rule in web design is that your web site should be easy to read. You should choose your text and background colors very carefully. You don't want to use backgrounds that obscure your text or use colors that are hard to read. Dark colored text on a light colored background is easier to read than light colored text on a dark colored background. You also don't want to set your text size too small (hard to read) or too large (it will appear to shout at your visitors). All capitalized letters give the appearance of shouting at your visitors. Keep the alignment of your main text to the left, not centered. Center aligned text is best used in headlines. You want your visitors to be comfortable with what they are reading, and most text is left aligned.2. Your web site should be easy to navigate All of your hyper links should be clear to your visitors. Graphic images, such as buttons or tabs, should be clearly labeled and easy to read. Colors, backgrounds, textures, and special effects on your web graphics should be selected carefully. It is more important that your navigational buttons and tabs be easy to read and understand than to have "flashy" effects. Link colors in your text should be familiar to your visitor (blue text usually indicates an unvisited link and purple or maroon text usually indicates a visited link), if possible. If you elect not to use the default colors, your text links should be emphasized in some other way (boldfaced, a larger font size, set between small vertical lines, or a combination of these). Text links should be unique -- they should not look the same as any other text in your web pages. You do not want people clicking on your headings because they think the headings are links. Your visitors should be able to find what they are looking for in your site within three clicks. If not, they are very likely to click off your site as quickly as they clicked on.3. Your web site should image should match your company marketing strategy The basis for your web site design should be based the vision you have for your company and the industry that you compete in. In many cases, your vision, values and value proposition will be critical in develop a look that fits for your firm. Great outcomes require vision, commitment and collaboration as well as a commitment to meeting the needs of your customer base.4. Your web page layout and design should be consistent throughout the site Just as in any document formatted on a word processor or as in any brochure, newsletter, or newspaper formatted in a desktop publishing program, all graphic images and elements, typefaces, headings, and footers should remain consistent throughout your web site. Consistency and coherence projects a professional image. Typefaces and background colors, too, should remain the same throughout your site. Color coded web pages, in particular, need this consistency. Typefaces, alignment in the main text and the headings, background effects, and the special effects on graphics should remain the same. Only the colors should change. 5. Your web site should be quick to download Studies have indicated that visitors will quickly lose interest in your web site if the majority of a page does not download within 15 seconds. If your business does not have good brand name recognition, it is best to keep your download time as short as possible. A good application of this rule is adding animation to your site. Sure, animation looks "cool" and does initially catch your eye, but animation graphics tend to be large files. Test the download time of your pages first. If the download time of your page is relatively short and the addition of animation does not unreasonably increase the download time of your page, then and ONLY then should animation be a consideration.6. Your web site should be easy to find How are your visitors finding you online? The myth, "If I build a web site, they will come," is still a commonly held belief among companies and organizations new to the Internet. People will not come to your web site unless you promote your site both online and off-line. Once you have created a web site, all of your company's printed materials including business cards, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, etc. should have your URL printed on them. Not only should your web site be easy to find, but your contact information should be easy to find. People like to know that there is a person at the other end of a web site who can help them in the event that: 1. They need answers to questions which are not readily available on your web site or 2. Some element on your site is not working and end users need to be able to tell you about it. By giving all relevant contact information (physical address, telephone numbers, fax numbers, and email address), you are also creating a sense of security for your end users. They can contact you in the way that makes them feel the most comfortable.7. Design for you or for your customers? Finally, before you consider the personal preferences of your web page design, you should consider all of the above rules FIRST and adapt your personal preferences accordingly. The attitude "I don't like how it looks" should always be secondary to your web site's function. Which is more important: creative expression/corporate image or running a successful business? Then know a successful business will be contingent making sure your target customers find the web site easy to use and understand. Be sure to "get into the mind" of your customer and assess what makes them tick. What are your customers looking for? What information do they need? What will attract their attention? You need to walk in their shoes as you assess the web design. Be sure to check our our Web Design Portfolio to see some examples! Are you ready to get started?
