It’s probably true to say that anyone can get a website on-line these days. But getting on-line and building an effective and functioning website are not the same thing at all.
Clients frequently come to us with websites that are poorly designed or coded. Even those who have paid a lot of money to have one built.
Here are my top 10 snags…
1. Make your links stand out. If you have a link anywhere on your website (menu or content) it must look and behave like a link. Usually links are underlined but it’s ok also to have them display in a different colour. They absolutely must change colour/behaviour when hovered over.
www.foxhills.co.uk – nice clear links in the text
2. Current page indicators. When moving around a website visitors will not always remember what page they are on. You have to remind them and the best way to do this is by clearly showing them on the menu by highlighting the current page.
www.falklands.gov.fk – Clear page indicators + breadcrumb
3. Using images as links. You must use images as links with caution as they do not help your SEO and are not always great for accessibility. However if you do decide to use one make sure it looks like a link and includes a hover-over image so that it behaves like a link.
image link changes colour & displays description on hover
4. Cross browser testing. This is so often skipped by designers/agencies that are not specialised in website design. It is simply not good enough for your website to look good on your machine – it needs to look good on all machines and that usually means testing in 10 or so different browsers/versions of browsers/devices etc and spending a fair bit of time dealing with browser bugs.
Use software to test your site on different browsers
5. Optimising images. A tell tale sign of an inexperienced designer is a poorly optimised image. This might be an image that is stretched/skewed or massive file size or just really poor quality resolution. Either way poor images will let a website down.
Optimise website images
6. Big banners. I am a fan of big banner images but they must be used correctly. If you make them too high it’s possible that they will get in the way of your content. This is particularly true where the menu is above the banner and the text underneath. On smaller screens the visitor might not see the text change and believe the website to be broken.
Don’t use banners so big you have to scroll to see content
7. Font sizes. By law you need to demonstrate that you have considered accessibility in your website design. Part of this is allowing the website text to be changed in size.
Allow visitors control of font size
8. Layout of pages. Currently there is a massive trend for WordPress websites. I love WordPress and in the hands of an experienced developer it can be used as the foundation of a great website. But so many designers are just plonking in fixed headers and sidebars without care or consideration for the content on the page. Layouts and calls to action need to be worked around the copy and never the other way round.
Arrange your pages around content
For me a great website is all about the finishing touches, the things that you would probably take for granted. A poorly written website will jar with your visitors user experience and will affect your on-line message.
If you have a website that you are not sure stacks up (even if you have only just had it built) ask us for a free review…
Great advice as always. Thanks for a great summary. Lindsey.
Thanks Lindsey! Glad it was helpful.