Square buttons, round buttons,
flashy buttons … will they match my shoes, my
handbag or my tie? Are you stuck in a maze of
buttons, headings, bullets, sub-headings and colour
schemes?
STOP!!!!
Take a deep breath and read
some practical tips for professional looking
websites.
1. Select a colour scheme
and stick to it.
If your company has a logo or
preferred colours on its stationery that’s a good
start. For those of you starting from scratch,
choose two or three complementary colours and stick
with them – don’t change colours on every page.
The most common colour schemes
include:
- Red, yellow and white
- Blue and white
- Red, grey and white
- Blue, orange and white
- Yellow, grey and white.
If you’re not sure what colour
scheme to choose, surf the internet and find a
website that you like. You can then model your
colour scheme on what already exists.
2. Use templates.
Can’t find a website you really
like? Another option is to choose a template. There
are many templates or pre-set designs. These come
as part of your web design software (such as
FrontPage) or you can check out some websites that
specialise in designing templates.
Visit:
www.web4business.com.au/templates1.htm
www.newtemps.com
www.website-templates-resale-rights.com
www.123webtemplatesandmore.com
3. Provide an easy to use
navigation system.
This is one of the most
important issues to consider when designing a
website. You need to ensure your visitors can find
what they are looking for easily. Most websites
either display their navigation bar on the left or
at the top. And since most people are used to this
type of navigation, it’s best to stick with it.
It also helps to include your
navigation bar at the bottom of each page to save
your visitors from having to scroll back to the top.
4. Don’t go overboard on
special effects
Whilst it is ok to have one or
two special effects to jazz up your website,
spinning graphics and logos often distract your
visitor from the content, not to mention they can
take too long to download. Your visitors may click
away even before your spinning logo finishes
loading.
5. Background
Ensure your visitors can read
the text on the background, ie. no black writing on
dark blue background or yellow on white. Also be
careful that your links are visible before and after
being visited. The default for links in most
programs is blue (before being visited) and burgundy
(after being visited), so if you have a dark
background, ensure your links are light.
6. External Links
It is a good idea to open links
to other websites in a new window. That way your
visitors can easily return to your site when they
are finished browsing the external link
7. Site Map & Search
Feature
If you website is more than 15
pages, it is useful to have a site map or a “Search”
feature to ensure your visitors can easily find what
they’re looking for.
8. Content is King
While it is important that your
website looks clean and professional, it is far more
important that you concentrate your efforts on the
content and promotion.
If you want a professional
website, things to stay away from include:
1. Flash intros, revolving
globes, bevelled line separators, animated mail
boxes
2. Loads of pop up or pop under boxes
3. Autoplay music. Allow your customer to play
music only if they choose.
4. Hit counters of the free variety, which say “you
are 27th visitor”
5. Date and time stamps, unless your website is
updated daily or weekly
6. Busy backgrounds.
Don’t sweat the small stuff and
get yourself focussed on what to include on the
website and the best way to promote it. We will
cover these topics in future articles.
About
the Author: Ivana Katz, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ivana Katz is the owner of
Websites 4 Small & Growing Business, a company
specialising in the design and promotion of small
and growing business websites. She believes that
every business deserves to have a successful
website, no matter what its budget is.
info@web4business.com.au -
http://www.web4business.com.au
This article can be
republished for free as long as the author
information and website links are included.
