Top Tips for a Great Web Site Design

Designing a web site can be challenging, yet fun! There are a few essentials to consider that will ensure your web site appeals to a wide variety of users. Keep these basic tips in mind for great web site design.

Background
Make your site easy to view and read by selecting a white or light colored background with dark print. While a black or dark colored background may work under limited circumstances or for a specific target audience, it creates difficulty for most users. To ensure that your site appeals to the broadest audience possible, avoid black or dark colored backgrounds.

Font Size and Color
Avoid overuse of color or styles when choosing fonts. Stick with a standard font that is easy to read. Confine decorative fonts to areas like headers or the side bar. Stick with black or dark colored text except where specific highlighting is desired. A variety of colors and fancy types, while pretty at a glance, make reading text a chore. Hard-to-read text will quickly send your site visitors elsewhere.

Short and Sweet
A minimal amount of high quality content is far superior to an abundance of drivel. Be respectful of your audience by being informative yet concise. Strive to convey your message as succinctly as possible, rather than generating text just to fill space.

Navigation
Ensure that your site is easy to navigate. Have all links to other areas clearly visible on each page, preferably both down one side and across the top or bottom. Get a good feel for your visitor’s navigation experience by testing your site from different computers using a variety of connections and browsers.

Following these tips forms the foundation for a pleasant browsing experience. In web site design, putting the needs of the visitor first is the key to success.