Dos and Don’ts of Web Design

Leave out page counters

Page counters just spoil your design, give people unnecessary information and make your site look unprofessional. If you wish to know how many hits you are getting on your website, simple request your host for the server stats. Usually, a host will be willing to give you detailed stats.  

Don’t use background music

Some web designers like using background music to create a mood for a page. This could work in special cases, such as a Disney or MTV website. However, for most websites, background music is not a good idea for several reasons. First, music files are quite heavy and may take some time to download. Many surfers won’t have the time to wait. In addition, many computers do not have sound capability. It would therefore not make sense to make people to download music they can’t even listen to. Secondly, unexpected sound or music coming out of a person’s computer can be very irritating.

If you would like to have some music in your site, provide an option which allows users to turn on and off. One of the best ways of doing this is by creating an MP3 file, and then providing a link to it.

Have a consistent structure for your web pages

People like consistency, and your web pages should be consistent. Make sure navigation works in the same way in all the pages. For instance, if you decide to have your navigation menu on the left side of the page, that should be consistent in all the pages.

Avoid automatic pop-up windows

Pop-up windows are some of the most annoying features you can have on your site. Usually, pop-ups are used for presenting ads to users. Instead of using pop-up windows, find a way of incorporating the information you wish to pass in your main pages.

Make sure your pages don’t exceed 60k

Your page size is the sum total of the images, text, and multimedia content in your page. If your page takes more than 10 seconds to open, you are likely to lose much of your potential audience. Though internet speeds are getting increasingly fast, it is advisable to keep your pages below 60 kilobytes. This was a major consideration when designing my blog which features ediet discounts and weight watchers coupons.

Don’t center all your content

Centered text is very hard to read. The best way to go is left justified text. However, your titles and sub titles can be centered.

Don’t redirect visitors unless necessary

Due to various reasons, some web designers use different ways to redirect visitors to other pages. This can confuse people, as well as cause complications with search engines. To direct people to other pages, you could create a link, along with an explanation of where the link is going.   

 

A writer with a particular interest in sharing blogging tips, Charles also writes about special coupon and discount offers such as weight watchers discounts and ediet coupons. He currently writes for a coupon blog that offers weight watchers promotion codes for online andediets.com coupons.

 

 

Mars Cureg

Web designer by profession, photography hobbyist, T-shirt lover, design blog founder, gamer. Socially and physically awkward, lack of social skills, struggles to communicate with anyone who doesn't have a keyboard. Willing to walk to get to the promised land. Photo and video freelancer, SEO.

5 Responses

  1. web design company uk says:

    i really like your post,,,and appreciate you because you explained it using examples of daily life,,,keep writing,,,best of luck

  2. Hi,

    This post was really useful for me. I learned what we have to do what we should not do. es specially you images for related topic is really amazing.

    Thanks for nice post.

    Regards,
    Sridhar.
    Bangalore Web Design

  3. Women's Western Wear says:

    If you’re going to make an web design for a business site then you should focus on the home page. Make it as attractive, clean and readable as much as possible. So people can easily understand the flow of your site.

  4. Anonymous says:

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  1. October 29, 2011

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