Website Design & Layout: How to Make a Successful Website
Just like any other website your design plan can make or break you. First impressions are always the lasting ones. Many characteristics make up a good, successful website. With today’s technology many web pages go above and beyond, some work others tend to go too far and therefore lose potential clients.
Color
A big issue is color. I have seen a lot of sites that like to use colored backgrounds and then go and use colored text that clashes with their background color, therefore, making it more of an eyesore. It is necessary to make sure that if you decide to use color on your site make sure it’s “easy on the eyes, but also stands out.”
Graphics
In most cases “less is more.” Don’t go overboard on graphics. The more you use on your site, the longer it takes to load. Even though more people have high-speed internet, there are some that are still using dial-up, and they need to get their information just like anyone else. I have high-speed internet, and there are still some sites that take a while to load and 9 out of 10 times if it doesn’t load up immediately for me I close it out and look elsewhere for the information I’m looking for.
If you are going to add graphics to your website make sure they are relevant to what your website is about, don’t go adding graphics just to fill up space on your web pages sometimes white space is a good thing.
Make Layout Consistent
When designing your site, make sure the layout is consistent. You don’t want the viewer to go from one page to another wondering if they are on the same site because each page is set up completely different. Try to keep the overall layout out the same, so your site can be navigated through easily.
Be sure to use the same colors and fonts throughout the site. When choosing fonts make sure you stick to the basics not everyone’s computer has the fancy fonts, they may be nice but will be pointless in most cases because they can not be viewed on every computer.