Article

Functional Web Site Design Elements

By Cinnamon Roberts, President, ArizonaCommunity.com

First and foremost keep your audience in mind. Your web site should not be designed for yourself or other designers but for the demographic your site is reaching.
Place the name and a small logo on every page. Ensure that the logo links to your home page or add a “home” button on your site.
Provide a sitemap for all sites over 5 pages and consider a search engine for sites with more than 50 pages.
Write straightforward and simple headlines and page titles that clearly explain what the page is about and that will make sense when read out-of-context in a search engine results listing.
Structure the content into a starting page that provides an overview and several secondary pages focusing on specific topics. The goal is for visitors to avoid wasting time reading subtopics that are not of interest to them.
Use product photos, avoiding cluttered photo pages. The primary product page must be fast and should be limited to thumbnail shots linking to the larger view of the product.
Provide a consistent theme for your site. If your site is whimsical, provide fun images, fonts etc… throughout the site, reusing them often. Make sure none of your pages look “out of place” with the rest of your site.
Provide concise titles for links. This gives your visitor a preview of where each link will take them, before they have clicked on it.
Ensure that important pages are accessible for users with disabilities, even if you must have a “text only” alternative version of your site.
Don’t be afraid to break cookie cutter site rules. Many websites follow a “cookie cutter style”, such as: navigation on the left in plain text, white backgrounds, etc… Use the basic construction so your visitors will not be confused, but spruce it up a bit! Your visitor will remember your site and find it “groundbreaking”.
Ensure your site is cross-browser compatible. While 80% of internet users prefer Internet Explorer browser, don’t cut out the 20% who use Netscape. View your site in both browsers to ensure functionality.
Test your design with real users as a reality check. Even the most carefully planned project will learn from usability testing.