Website Tips.

Here are my tips on what makes a good website, including things I like seeing which will make me stay on your website and possibly come back again as well as things I don't like to see and that will probably make me click the X in the corner.
Note: I am not trying to offend anyone by what I say; these are just my personal opinions.

Originality.

What makes your website different to all the 1000s of others out there? What stands out above the rest? I find this to be an important factor when building a website and when going into website design, as your visitors will want to see something unique/new that they haven't come across before. Do not copy, it's a big no-no and also illegal, this also goes for direct linking unless the webmaster/mistress indicates you are able to, e.g. link buttons, coded graphics etc.

A Creative Layout.

This is the first thing a visitor sees when they access your web page (unless you have a splash although these are usually not needed) so it should be eye catching and appealing. The colours should match and be easy on the eyes e.g. not the standard colours of red, blue, green, yellow and cyan which can also be difficult to read. However, variants of any of these colours are fine. When it comes to the layouts graphics, originality and creativity are important, so try and find your own unique style you think your visitors will like and go with it.

Content.

So your visitors don't get bored on your site it is very useful to have a good chunk of content to look at, this can include graphics (make your own), tutorials, interactive sections, e.g. plug boards, site/domain information and a section about you. When thinking about what content you wish to have on your site remember this phrase "quality over quantity". It's fine to have loads of content on your site but it's a lot better to have a little bit of something good than a lot of something bad. When considering content, think originality, be unique; give your visitors something they haven't seen before this will most likely make them want to visit your site again.
Some types of content I personally like to see are:

  • Unique tutorials, e.g. an icon tutorial for a style only you know how to do
  • Reads - I don't mean email forwards here; I mean articles/personal experience pieces that you have written yourself.
  • Interactive sections - Both ones that are site related, e.g. button walls and those that are more personal, e.g. on my site I used to have an advice section in which visitors could ask me advice about anything. I also like to see reviews on a site as it enables me to get another persons perspective.
  • Interesting 'about you' pages - As a visitor I want to know something about the person who created the site, i.e. you. So tell me something interesting e.g. what you want to do with your life etc.
  • Accessibility Statements - Bit of an odd one I know, but I learn a lot by reading them.

Proper Grammar and Spelling.

It can be quite annoying to go to a site and find that the webmaster/mistress is using chat speak that I can't understand and I'm usually pretty good with chat speak, so if I can't understand it, it is likely your visitors won't be able to either. Try to use proper grammar and spelling as this will make things easier to read for the visitor, if in doubt type things in Word (or any equivalent) and use a spell checker first (that's what I usually do). When it comes to cursing, try and keep it to a minimum as it is likely that you will have younger people viewing your site.

Organisation.

Having a really cluttered site with links all over the place and nothing laid out well can be a pain to use/navigate around and can also be annoying, so try and keep a well organised site, e.g. visitor content on a visitor page etc. Try and code your pages so they look good as well, e.g. align things to the left, use headings, separate things with colour (not too much as it can hurt visitor's eyes).

When it comes to navigation it should also be well laid out and organised as after all you want your visitors to be able to look around your site easily, don't you? So, I would recommend having navigation on the left, right, or at the top in either text format or image format. However, if you are using a small Iframes/frame layout you could always have the navigation at the bottom. You have to decide if you want to have buttons that link to a page full of more links, if you're going to display all of your links at one time, whether you'll be having images etc. It's up to you as it is your site after all. May I suggest however that you try to cater for a variety of users, e.g. ones with poor eye-sight - no small fonts etc.

Don't be afraid to learn or ask for help.

If you find that you're getting stuck e.g. you are getting error pages up or broken images it's ok to ask for help on how to fix them or go to a tutorial site and find out how. Not everyone understands all the HTML/XHTML tags/attributes straight away, it will take time. A useful place for beginners is lissa explains it all, this is one of the places where I first learnt how to code.

Tips on asking other webmasters/mistresses for help:

  • Be considerate, they may not have time to answer your question right away. They are busy too you know.
  • If they don't/can't help don't pester them.
  • Don't spam their email, tag board, blog etc. This is likely to annoy them and you'll get no help at all.
  • Ask them to refer you to a tutorial site if they can not help.

Right: "I like how you did ____, I was wondering if you could tell me where I could learn it from?"

Wrong: "Can I have a ____ like yours?", "Will you make me a ______?"

Final Words.

I hope these tips were useful to you in making your website. Remember these are just my opinions on what I think works best.

Any questions??