Have you seen the website with the black background and navy blue text? Oh, yeah…I’m sure we’ve ALL seen that website, and I hope the last time we saw it was 10 years ago when web design was in its infancy.
By now, we all know that visual appeal is a must when it comes down to website design, and that NOBODY (and I do mean nobody) wants to stare at a red screen with yellow text and blinking blue dots.
A website’s design should be easy on the reader. Think of your audience. Think of yourself for a minute! After all, would you want to spend countless hours designing a site whose colors you can’t even stare at for longer than 30 seconds? Remember who your audience is, and think of some colors that will bring them into your website without reservation.
- For your design elements, think clean, crisp, and appealing.
- Always use darker text on a light background. If using light text on a dark background, just be aware of the color clash and that this can be harder on the eyes. To promote easy visualization of your text, it is better to stick with dark text on a light background.
- Clutter is very distracting. Try to minimize the usage of flash or gif animation, and use only when there is true function and purpose for it
- Create proper alignment of pictures and text. Text is read better in the left alignment as opposed to the center alignment. Pictures work well with text when left aligned in the body of the text.
- Navigation should be consistent throughout each page. Take advantage of template abilities in programs such as Dreamweaver, to create a structured template and navigation scheme that is consistent for each page of your website. Check to make sure that none of your links are broken. When adding new links to the navigation, make sure it is added on each page.
These are all steps that can help you create a well-planned design. Remember, visual appeal is very important and plays on the five senses of each of your site visitors. If you can greet your visitors with a snazzy design, you have a higher chance of retaining that visitor for a longer period of time (even if you have little or lousy content!) Content definitely has its place, and actually has far greater weight than design, but if you are trying to reel in those passersby and catch them on the first visit, first impressions always matter!
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Demetria Zinga is the founder and owner of Faith Media, a technology and consulting firm which specializes in web design and hosting, graphics and print designs, internet marketing, and e-training. She is also the founder of Christian Ladies Connect, an interactive ezine, blog, and podcast for Christian women.
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