Important web design considerations
1. Don’t focus too much on appearance
From what I have found, most people focus too much on the appearance of their website. But, believe it or not, appearance isn’t the most important thing to look at when you are planning and creating your site.
I definitely don’t want you to think that appearance is not important, because it is. However, your site does not need to be the best looking website out there. Your site can still do very well with a basic appearance that functions well. Take your time to create a nice design, but do not overlook the many other issues in making a website. You may also want to read my article, Additional web design thoughts.
2. Create a user-friendly site
No matter what type of site you create, the usability of your site is very important. There are many issues to address regarding your website, and I will touch upon them here.
1. Create appropriate content for your audience
Don’t ever forget your audience. While considering the layout of your site, make sure that you understand your audience and create content they want. It doesn’t matter how great your layout is if people don’t care about the content you are providing.
2. Make your information easy to find
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of making the information on your site easily accessible. If visitors are unable or have a difficult time finding things on your website, they will not come back to your site.
3. Create a good navigational system
You want to have a good navigational system for your website. A navigational system is the way people move from one page to another. For example, on SiteForStarters, one way in you can access the main pages is to use the links on the right column of the page.
There are a few features to a good navigational system:
- If you are using a navigation bar or panel, make it the same on all the pages of your website. You want your visitors to be comfortable finding information anywhere on your site.
- You also want to provide short-cuts to places where people are likely to want to go. Make it as easy as you can for people to find the things they want to find. Take time to think of the things your visitors want to know and place articles in logical places. Pretend you were visiting your own site for the first time. What would you want to know? Where would you expect to find it?
- Make sure your site is usable by all your visitors. For example, don’t make your menu dependent on a specific browser, or accessible only to Windows users. If your menu is JavaScript-driven, make sure that your site functions for people who do not have JavaScript enabled.
- As important as your site’s navigation system is, and it is, many people prefer to use a search box. Therefore, having a search engine on your site is very important.
- Another item that many people tend to overlook is a Site Map. A Site Map is a page where you list all of the pages on your site. If you wonder what a Site Map looks like, look at someone else’s site for pointers. It also helps search engines locate all the pages on your site, which is always important.
3. Make your site visible to search engines
Utilizing search engines is one of the biggest issues you will face. People need to find your site, and they do it the most through search engines. If you can’t be found through search engines, you will barely get any visitors. It’s as simple as that. To ignore search engine visibility would be a huge mistake. To find more information on this topic, definitely read the articles regarding making your website search engine friendly
Final thoughts
The usability and search engine readiness into your web design is crucial and an issue you cannot ignore. Equally important is your search engine visibility. Any time spent on these issues will be time will spent.
