ORGANIZATION AND STYLE
In addition to content, organization is an important aspect of a web
site. A web site with good content will be unsuccessful if the information
is disorganized.
Begin by sketching
out on paper how you would like your web site to look. If your
web site will contain many pages, a flowchart showing how the pages are connected might be helpful.
To get an idea of
how you want your web site to look, it helps to look at other people's.
Visit Media Metrix
500 to see an alphabetical list of the Internet's top 500 sites. Web
Pages that Suck teaches good web design in an interesting way - by
looking at bad web design!
Once you have a rough idea of what you
want your web site to be like, you will be ready to find the graphics and
other goodies you need and tackle HTML programming. In the section below,
there are some guidelines to help you out during this process.
Web Site Design Guidelines
1. Put the
most important stuff near the top of the document. Some of these important
stuff include the title of your page, the purpose of your page, and the
date your page was last updated. This is so that people will look at the
rest of your page.
2. Write clearly
and be brief.
3. Do not overload
your web site with graphics. Web sites with a lot of graphics take a long
time to load up.
4. Organize your
documents for quick scanning by using headlines to summarize topics, and
by using lists.
5. Do not put too
much stuff on one page. If a page is getting large, split it into separate
pages. For example, your home page might have separate sections for the
links, the guestbook, and your personal information.
6. If your web site
contains more than one document, make sure it is easy to navigate. You
can do this by putting a table of contents at the beginning or end of each
document. Another way is by using frames.
7. Avoid . It attracts attention, but it is very annoying. There are
better ways of emphasizing text, like BOLD and ITALICS.
8. Provide your
e-mail address in a hypertext and/or graphical link. This will enable people
to get back to you with comments and suggestions on improving your site.
9. Make your site
accessible to as many people as possible, including those with text-based
browsers and slow modem connections. The best way to learn how is by visiting
Creating Accessible
HTML.
You can find more design tips in Useful Tips and Tricks.
