Hints and Tips for creating a website!
The following hints and tips are here to help you create a successful web site.
Colours
Colour selection is very important for a very site. Try to limit your website to a maximum of three or four main colours. They should not all be dark and they should not all by light. A balance of light and dark is required for a successful website. Also very important is the use of white. White space helps create a clean and elegant web site. Also, try to avoid too much text on a dark background as it can be very hard to read.
Fonts
Fonts should be consistent accross your website. Don't have too many different font styles and try to use a style and size that is clear and easy to read. Make sure you use user-adjustable font sizes throughout your website.
Images
Images can transform a website from amateur into professional. Be careful that your images are not too large both in terms of width (how large the image appears on the web page), and also in terms of file size. The larger a file size for an image means it will take longer to download to the users browser. Don't stretch or skew an image, as this will ruin the image quality and appearance. There are lots of great resources on the internet for purchasing professional images, such as istockphoto.
Stylesheet
Stylesheets provide an elegant and manageable way to make your website consistent. By using stylesheets and style classes you can easily change some appearance aspects of your website just by updating the stylesheet.
Layout
The layout of your website should be consistent accross your pages, but it is quite common to have a different splash page, or home page. Consider your use of white space, and also the natural flow of the page. Where is it logical to look? What areas have prime real estate? Also, consider how easy it is to navigate within your layout?
Resolution
Remember that there are many different versions of computers old and new that may visit your website. As a result, they may have varying screen sizes and screen resolutions. How would your page look on smaller screen? Or on a larger screen?
Alignment
Think about whether your pages should be generally be left aligned, centered or right aligned. Don't be too hasty too think it should be center aligned. Also, consider the alignment within tables. For instance, labels might be right aligned, and input left aligned, so they are flush against each other.
Links
Make sure all of your links are valid. Be careful of using javascript for links.
Features
Don't get carried away with cool features. Don't use flashing text, and try to limit the amount of scrolling or moving text.
Browsers
Unfortunately all browsers are different and all browser versions are different. It is best to check your website against the most common browser types and browser versions. You will be surprised how different they can look!
Search Engines
Don't forget to make your webpages search engine friendly. Use title tags, meta tags, and alt tags. Also consider the text you use on links and throughout your content.
