It's been said again and again, when it comes to getting people to visit your site (and stay there for more than 5 seconds), the quality of your content rules supreme. But once you've bowed to interest, saluted relevance and kow-towed to originality, who else must you pay homage to for recognition in the court of website stickiness?
The two jewels in the crown of Presentation, for it is of course Presentation who is Queen, are structure and graphical design. Let's take a very brief look at them both.
Structure We're interested here in how you order the contents of your site, in how you link the different components and sections together. Your objective is to make the experience of browsing your site as straightforward as possible for your visitors.
So how do you go about achieving a clear, intuitive structure? For larger more complicated sites it helps to draw a chart of all the pages, showing how they connect to each other (this process isn't such a bad idea for smaller sites either). Try and keep everything logical and stick to the '3 click rule' as much as possible. (The '3 click rule' - a user shouldn't have to click more than 3 times to get to a page).
Once you've worked out a logical site structure, the basis for your navigation system should pop out. Don't go and spoil it all by using a fancy (usually Flash) navigation system that's frustratingly difficult to work out!
Graphical design What you do with your design is generally down to personal taste and branding requirements. Take a look on the Internet and you'll see successful designs from the extremely detailed to the minimalist.
Note that whilst people will say 'but look at Google' to justify a plain (ugly!) design, well chosen colour schemes and visual interest will give your site a positive boost.
No matter what style you go for, there are some rules that will always apply:
Logical structure and pleasing design make for intuitive navigation and an easier more enjoyable browsing experience. With just a little thought you'll be rewarded with visitors who pay more attention to your content and not the pain and effort needed to get to it.
Trevor Lewis has over 10 years in the Software Industry. He is currently a Senior Consultant at emnm. EMNM offer a range of new media design services including emnm and website design.
recurring maid service Buffalo Grove ..1. Web site File Structure / File NamingMost search engines... Read More
A long, long time ago? In a galaxy far, far... Read More
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast loading... Read More
Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him... Read More
Want to know what the worst thing to say on... Read More
Remember the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams,... Read More
Don't just put your slogan in the title tag when... Read More
What are websites? Are they sales tools for vendors and... Read More
Let's look at what your user wants to see at... Read More
When you design a website how do you start ?Do... Read More
Your web site should always adhere to standards!A professional web... Read More
Colors are powerful, and create strong feelings. They can also... Read More
From my personal experience of around two year as home... Read More
One of the simplest things you can do to give... Read More
It starts off simply; a few HTML pages, a few... Read More
I see a lot of mistakes, but here are the... Read More
If there's one thing that most web site developers can... Read More
Squeeze pages are a very hot topic in the internet... Read More
1. Use .gifs rather than .jpgs. GIFs are smaller in... Read More
Congratulations! You've got a brand new site and it's doing... Read More
Owning your own website is a must if you are... Read More
This article is the result of a conversation I had... Read More
When I surf the Net, I often see web sites... Read More
Most of us at times need advice on different aspects... Read More
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site... Read More
premium house cleaning Glenview ..If you've a website but not making a lot of... Read More
Even after you've managed to bring traffic to your site... Read More
In this article I will give advice and tips of... Read More
There are several very good reasons why you should consider... Read More
Colors convey emotions and emotions heavily influence the decision-making process.... Read More
Design sells. It's something that all of us know, but... Read More
Due to the large number of people offering web design... Read More
As a graphic designer, you are sitting on a gold... Read More
1. What's the purpose?The most fundamental thing to do before... Read More
In this article I will give a few tips of... Read More
The object of search engines is to give their visitors... Read More
Wether you design your business brochures, flyers, web page, or... Read More
The question that I most frequently hear from people is... Read More
Before deciding on which web design company to choose, you... Read More
Ever wonder how HTML color codes are put together? For... Read More
Designing your website means you have to be creative, plan... Read More
New Web sites are springing up online by the millions.... Read More
Reading on the web is different than reading in all... Read More
A "template" is simply a design format which you can... Read More
Think of the people who visit your site as blind... Read More
Does your website make a good first impression? Is the... Read More
One of the simplest things you can do to give... Read More
STEP 1:Do your homeworkPlan and think about your content. Think... Read More
Do you remember playing with the jack-in-the-box toy as a... Read More
No matter what product or service you're promoting, unless you... Read More
Web Design |