Is your website working for you?
The Bad, the Good and the Ugly
Part 1 : The Bad
It’s always good to share, always be open to learning and grow. In this harsh climate we have to make sure we, you and our companies offer the very best in creative business solutions.
uDEZIGNit is always looking at ways it can help clients new and old to achieve their goals in business and today we talk about web designs, are you a designer? Do you need help? Or simply some short hard facts that might help you along the way. It’s so easy to make a web page. It’s also easy to make a very nice, clean, professional-looking web page even if you don’t have much design experience. Most of the time the difference, even for people just starting is simply a matter of eliminating certain features that are guaranteed to make a page look amateurish.
Go through the list of things that people–designers and non-designers–from around the country have commented as the things that make the difference between a well-designed and a poorly designed web site
Keep point here is to remember : Keep in mind that the point of eliminating bad features is not just to make the page prettier, but to communicate more effectively.
Below are features that can make a web design look unprofessional. Now this comes from our combined experience in the field and many others that have shared their views on web design, for example :
Backgrounds
Default grey colour
Colour combinations of text and background that make the text hard to read
Harsh background Colour that make it difficult to look at
Busy, distracting backgrounds that make the text hard to read
Text
Text that is too small to read
Text crowding against the left edge
Text that stretches all the way across the page
Text in different colours, including coloured letters
Centred type over flush left body copy
Paragraphs of type in all caps
Paragraphs of type in bold
Paragraphs of type in italic
Paragraphs of type in all caps, bold, and italic all at once
Underlined text that is not a link
Links
Default blue links
Blue link borders around graphics
Links that are not clear about where they will take you
Links in body copy that distract readers and lead them off to remote, useless pages
Text links that are not underlined so you don’t know they are links
(If you’re not going to underline your links, please make sure that each link is clearly visible as a link! Don’t make me wander around with my mouse checking to see if randomly coloured text is a link!)
Dead links (links that don’t work anymore) – check and check again
Graphics
Large graphic files that take forever to load
Meaningless or useless graphics
Thumbnail images that are nearly as large as the full-sized images they link to
Graphics with no alt labels
Missing graphics, especially missing graphics with no alt labels
Graphics that don’t fit on the screen (assuming a screen of 800 x 600 pixels)
Tables
Borders turned on in tables
Tables used as design elements, especially with extra large (dorky) borders
Blinking and animations
Anything that blinks, especially text
Multiple things that blink
Rainbow rules (lines)
Rainbow rules that blink or animate
“Under construction” signs, especially of little men working
Animated “under construction” signs
Animated pictures for email
Animations that never stop
Multiple animations that never stop
Junk
Counters on pages — who cares
pointless advertising buttons or adverts – Does it make money for you? If not then why is it there
Having to scroll sideways (800 x 600 pixels)
Too many little pictures of meaningless awards on the first page
Frame scroll bars in the middle of a page
Multiple frame scroll bars in the middle of a page
Navigation
Unclear navigation; over complex navigation
Complicated frames, too many frames, unnecessary scroll bars in frames
Orphan pages (no links back to where they came from, no identification)
Useless page titles that don’t explain what the page is about
General Design
Entry page or home page that does not fit within standard browser window (800 x 600 pixels)
Frames that make you scroll sideways
No focal point on the page
Too many focal points on the page
Navigation buttons as the only visual interest, especially when they’re large (and dorky)
Cluttered, not enough alignment of elements
Lack of contrast (in colour, text, to create hierarchy of information, etc.)
Pages that look okay in one browser but not in another
We hope you had fun reading the above and it offered a little insight to website design then it’s a good start
If you want to know if your website is working for you why not try out our “Web Fitness” Program. For only £50 we will compile a report that will present you with a range of information, stats, figures and comments that will guide you to better business online and for your brand. Email us on fit@udezignit.com