Common Mistakes
Getting It Right Is Always Important
Here is an even dozen of the many basic mistakes most individuals, and many professional designers, make when creating websites. By knowing about them you can keep from making them yourself.
1. Do not use splash pages or Flash intro pages on your websites. These make your visitors wait and waste time getting to what they really came for.
2. If at all possible avoid using Flash and fancy Javascript at all. These are not only annoying to many of your visitors but waste their valuable time as well. What you think of as pretty or cool can cost you dearly.
3. Text is important for a number of reasons. Many web designers don’t seem to understand this. It isn’t about pretty. It’s about conveying information. Don’t make it too small. Don’t have too little contrast. Dark text on a light background is best. Don’t use too many colors or fonts. If you write it you probably want people to actually be able to read it!
4. Links are important factors in the navigation of your site. Don’t hide them. They should be a different color, be underlined, and have a hover (mouse over) indicator. That’s what most people expect.
5. Content should be written for the Web: short, to the point, easy to read, and addresses your visitor’s concerns. Use a conversational tone. Don’t try to impress people with your vocabulary. You won’t.
5. Check, double check, and check again for misspellings, typos, and grammatical errors. Nothing screams unprofessional as loud as a page with errors.
6. Forms should always be user-friendly. Let the computer do the work not your visitor. Use one form field to collect both the first and last name, or the area code and telephone number. If you need the parts separated you can code it done.
7.Test your pages in at least Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera and, if possible, include Safari on a Mac. Nothing is worse than thinking your pages are fine — and they are in your browser — only to find others see a mess in theirs.
8. Always have an about page and include something about the company history or the site owner (you!). Many people will feel more secure on a site where they come to know the owner.
9. Never play instant music. If music is necessary, or you feel it enhances your site, let the viewer choose if, and what, they wish to listen to. Give them the control to turn it on and to turn it off.
10. If at all possible stay clear of pop-ups and try not to force the viewer to scroll horizontally. When it comes to layout a static (fixed) width is preferable. Know your sizes!
11. Be conscious of load times. A large number of web users are still on dial-up which can be painfully slow. Optimize all images for the Web. If you don’t know how to do this hire it done. Keep the total KB size per page to a minimum.
12. Free is good but you should avoid free hit counters, free email addresses, and/or free hosting services. They lack professionalism and they steal credibility from your site. Ads, like everything else on your site, should be your choice.
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