Web Design and Development for First-timers – Part 2.
Leave newcomers aside, even seasoned site owners don’t know a crucial information: hosting account allows many email ids. It is not uncommon to witness sites using either a gmail or some other service like hotmail or even Googlemail. But naturally this presents a very bad image.
This was the basic tip before proceeding full stream.
Readability and Navigational Issues
Today even Google needs responsive sites. That means the site design should change depending on the device used to open: smartphone,tablet,netbook and desktop. Test sites in all devices for readability and only then decide the optimum font size. Also, avoid the cluttered look by increasing the line-height.
Use more images and text to the minimum, just enough to get the idea go across. The quickly a reader understands the crux, the more likely he stays on the site. Images should help telling the story and be there, not just for the sake of it.
Advertising and other links if any, should be minimum. If global audience is targetted, ensure language convertability is offered at a convenient location. Also, instead of using automatic translation, effort should be made to get it from professional writers. After all, its your showcase, meant to attract all visitors.
Linking, both Internal and External is of Utmost Importance!
Every page should be on the navigation bar and every post should be linked to your homepage. Also, it is always best to interlink the pages as well. The navigation should give obvious choices to go forward and back too.
Many haphazardly designed sites are penalized by Google for invalid navigation. All images should have both: the necessary Alt tags & description and proper size information. This saves on page loading time and visitors love quick loading websites.
The Look & Feel is also important!
Clumsily designed websites often scare visitors away. Same with cluttered or stuffed websites. The background and font colours are important in imparting a pleasing effect.
Professionally designed websites have all aspects in proper proportion. With enough white space thrown around, you can be sure visitors stay longer.
Lastly, ensure there are no typos. Spelling mistakes are never tolerated. Also, if you are not a native English writer, try writing smaller sentences. Interleave blockquotes to lighten the mood and help make any serious topic easy to assimilate.
Have an Inviting Contact Us Section!
Every visitor has some query needing to be addressed. Your contact page should be inviting enough so that he feels writing inside out. Moreover this is only possible if the visitor stays and reads all that is there.
Simple but attractive text is important.