Determining a Good Website Design
By: Alvin Pachejo
Simple things to look for and avoid for a good website design
A good website design is not determined by just kickass logos, fancy fonts and animated buttons. Things like that cannot be the deciding factor for the success of a website. If you’re paying someone to design your website for you, it is good to know the factors that tell if a website’s design is really good, or just an eye candy that is beautiful to look at but not user friendly to browse.
One thing to look for in the design is uniformity. The home page and other pages should look like they are of the same website. Imagine browsing a stunning home page, complete with hardcore background, flash animation, beautiful color schemes, and then if you click on the about page, it looks like a Word document that has a plain title on top and plain text at the bottom. I’m not saying that the about page should also have flash animation but it should at least have the same color and font scheme as the home page and every other pages in the website. You should also check if the page looks the same in all browsers, or at least it should work properly in all popular browsers.
When it comes to graphics, things that should be checked are colors, background, images, and buttons. The website’s colors should blend nicely with each other and should look good. There are times when the designer used too many bright colors that looking at the website for a long time causes headaches. The website’s text should still be readable even if the background is dark or has different colors. It is good to have images or other elements to break up areas where there are large texts so that they will not look tiring to read. When it comes to the website’s buttons, they should be uniform is size, not be too big or too small, and should be positioned uniformly in all of the pages.
One of the main factor in the design it the text. The number one rule in this is readability. Text size should be big enough for users to read, but not too big. Large font sizes lead to a longer page that is tiring to read because you have to scroll down or up often to read the content. Font colors should match with the site’s color scheme. And, make sure that the font matches the theme of the website. Fancy fonts look unprofessional when used on corporate websites.
Navigation should also be a factor to look in the site’s design. The navigation buttons or bar should be consistent in all pages. They should be placed conveniently on the site and should be easy to use and comprehend. Links should be easily recognizable in the pool of texts. Preferably, they should be underlined and colored appropriately with the site’s color scheme. All pages should link back to the home page or back to where it came from.
The page’s size should also be checked. The home page and/or the first page of the site should fit into an 800 x 600 resolution screen. The page should not be too wide that the user should scroll left or right to view the contents of the page. Page elements should not be cluttered and should be organized properly.
There are also objects that are unnecessary on the page. One thing to avoid are blinking texts and images. It annoys users. Also, page counters are not that very appealing anymore. Ads are okay on the page as long as it’s not too much that it takes up most of the page. Large images take too long to load so it is not advisable.
These factors should be meticulously checked when designing a website. If you’re the site owner, make sure to check these things before approving the designer’s work. Most of the revisions are simple to do and do not require a lot of effort. It is also advisable to pick a web designer from your area so you can easily reach them and make them come over if you’re having trouble explaining things over the phone or through emails. You can easily find them by typing ‘web design’ or ‘website design’ and your location in search engines (e.g. Orlando web design or website design Tampa). The payoff to a good web design is a positive user feedback and a potentially big payroll so make sure to design it the right way!
About the Author
Chi is a Filipino content for an English-learning website start-up specialist, puppy breeder, and an article writer for pets stores like 9 Breeders Happy Tails .
(ArticlesBase SC #2941430)
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Determining a Good Website Design
9 Comments
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Moondancer says:
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 5:21pm
Great writeup, I’ve seen a few websites that are all over the place. For my own websites, I’m a fan of minimalist websites, so I keep it simple.
Moondancer recently posted..Getting motivated What’s your inspiration
admin says:
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 7:49pm
To me, less is more. Just look at this blog.
Brittanie Groupe says:
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:39pm
as to the body.”
Jaymee says:
Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 4:51am
A good website need to have great contents. But it won’t also hurt if its easy or appealing to the eyes and easy to navigate
Jaymee recently posted..Play Mario Games
tim says:
Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 1:11pm
website is essential to success, but dont forget something that sticky, ie makes the user come back
tim recently posted..New Gtlds
Joy-Joy says:
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 7:16am
Good point, I’ve seen a few websites that are all over the place. For my own websites, I’m a fan of minimalist websites, so I keep it simple.
Joy-Joy recently posted..angry birds
mangosteen56 says:
Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 9:08am
A good website can give us a complete overview of the site.
mangosteen56 recently posted..Diabetic Diet Guidelines
Sagolili says:
Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 4:50am
Keep a good blog.
Sagolili recently posted..Kissing Party Games
patricia says:
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 4:08am
simple website is the best to load the data fast.
patricia recently posted..online angry birds game