There are very few web pages on the internet that clearly state
what is "good web site design" and what is not "good web site
design". That's because it's completely subjective - like what
is beautiful and what is not beautiful, and so it takes a highly
opinionated strong ego like this one to step in there and say
"OK folks, this is what it is." Now I jumped on board the
internet back in 1994 after I began to believe that not only
would it be "The Next Big Thing", but that it actually does
offer the human race the potential to connect all our minds
together in an entirely new way. When I decided to create my own
web site, I first had to take a good look at as many music and
other web sites as possible in order to learn what not to do
before I could visualize what I should do. I've visited
thousands of web sites since then, I've talked to countless net
surfers about what they like and don't like, and we all tend to
agree on some major points:
Bad Design Consists of:
1. Text that is hard to read, including use of tiny fonts
against black backgrounds and illegible fonts against
picturesque backgrounds. 2. Anything that slows page downloading
speed. Net surfers are impatient and they will hit their back
button to exit out of a site where pages take too long to
download. Avoid any plug-ins that have to be downloaded in order
simply in order to view your page. 3. No clear "Mission
Statement" on the home page. Web surfers want to know
immediately what a web site is about - they don't want to have
to read several pages to get it and then decide the time spent
wasn't worth it. 4. No clear instructions on the home page on
how to get the information you want out of the site. Web surfers
want to surf with speed, not study in a library. 5. Home pages
that make you click on something to "enter" (called portal
pages). What's the point? You've already entered. Why in the
world would you care to enter twice? 6. Confusing site
organization, difficult navigation, dead links. 7. Boring
writing. Not much can be done about this one. Creative writing
isn't available at any price, in any medium - ask the publishers.
Good Design Consists of:
1. Text that is easy to read. Don't be afraid to use a large
bold font against a light colored background. You can use any
font with any background. There are no rules or laws here. 2.
Avoid gimmicks. Construct your pages to download fast. Consider
having a section just for photos and name it so that people will
expect that portion of your site to download slowly. And for
goodness sake, don't make people download a plug-in just so that
they can read your page. 3. A clear statement on the home page
explaining what the site is all about. 4. Something on the home
page that makes it clear what the other pages are all about too.
5. A home page that is a home page - none of that "enter"
nonesense. 6. An organized site that has some kind of structure
that can be easily understood. 7. Entertainment value. This is
where good writing skills come in. Think of your site as if it
were a novel or a hit record. Somebody has to grab our interest
immediately and then hold it by entertaining us. There's no
better way than with your personality through your writing, and
nobody can do that for you better than you can.
The bottom line is that web site design professionals usually
prevent your own personality from shining through your web site.
It's much better to be yourself and create something that they
would call amateurish then it is to pay for something that they
use a form and a program to create for all their clients. Think
outside the box. And then create your own box.
About Author :
Peter Cross is a singer/songwriter/producer who was among the
first to put music on the internet in downloadable format in
1996. To this day, he is one of the only musicians who has
created and designed his own music web site in html, and at 104
pages filled with entertaining content, it's one of the largest.
Check it out at: http://www.starcrost.com
