A Few Random Thoughts On Web Design

What are the things that drive you crazy about a web site? Long download times is the thing that bother most people. How can you speed up the process? Graphics are the biggest offenders. Use smaller pictures. Do you really need all of those clever buttons that glow when the mouse passes over them? What does the long flash movie add to the site? What about using thumbnail graphics and if the visitor really wants to see them, he can spend the time to download them. But for those large graphics that you really need to display, use lowsrc. Lowsrc will download a small graphic (black and white or low resolution image) then when the rest of the page has loaded and the visitor sees what the image looks like, the final version loads, but it does not hold up the loading of the rest of the page.

Another of the things that drive people crazy are navigational problems on a web site. You end up going through layer after layer of fluff to get to the good stuff. But the problem is, what is fluff and what is good stuff? Only your visitor knows. You have to give the visitor a way to see what is on the site and way to get there. Instead of a link marked 'Background', how about something that says 'Behind the scenes story' or 'Downloadable web page backgrounds'. Don't make the people guess. And give them a way back to the start (home) also 'back' and 'forward' buttons. Just don't leave them stranded. ? or ....This is ugly, Isn't it!!.... Isn't this the the most distracting thing you ever saw? Isn't your eye drawn to it? Don't you wish it would go away, or at least let you stop it? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. OK, now scroll down and you won't see it any more. Do you like to see the pages with flashing signs, blinking buttons, and giant marquees across the top of the page? Well, no one else likes it either, so don't put them in. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.

Depending on the site selected, anywhere from 50% to 80% of the visits come from browsers that are Microsoft or Netscape version 4 or higher. That means that 20% to 50% are not. And that means watching what you use in your page. How many visitors to your site use browsers that do not support Java? Ten per cent? Twenty per cent? How many people are you willing to exclude from your digital domain? Go with the lowest common denominator. The Java capable people won't mind foregoing some of the 'splash and dash' if it is a well laid out site.

What do people want? They want content. They came to your site for a reason. What is that reason? Is it for information or is it to buy something? If it is for information, give it to them and make it easy to find what they are looking for. Don't be like the dad who pulled out charts and graphs and gave a long speech about the birds and the bees when his son asked where he came from. When he was through he asked he son if he had any questions. The son said "Yes, where did I come from, Billy said he came from California". Some people want a 'top level' type of discussions and others may want an in depth look. Give them both what they want. Build another page and give them the 'short' and 'long' version and let them decide which to view.

If it is to buy something, make it easy for them. If they don't want to use an online credit card transaction, don't preach about how safe it is, just give them a telephone number to call (preferably a 1-800 number). What colors does it come in? Show 'em. How many different ways can you buy it? Explain them. Give them all the information they need to make a purchase. Make it as easy as you can and they will buy. And give them something extra. Remember their name and birthday and send them a greeting on their birthday. Remember their size or color preference. Send them an E-mail when that color or size comes on sale (not when something comes on sale that is two sizes too small).

These are a few of the things that I try to keep in mind when I build a web site, whether it is a commercial site or one for home or school. I think that you will get a lot more visits and more repeats if you keep these things in mind. I will visit a web site that doesn't have all the latest greatest toys as long as it has the information I am looking for. How many totally text based web sites do you visit and why?

I'll leave you with two other bits of information. The rest of the world pays for connection time on the telephones so that makes web surfing expensive. Give them a way to get the information and get off-line, they will appreciate it. The other bit is this. 59.3% of the people on the net speak English. Which means that 40.7% do not. The English speakers control 32% of the world economy. Which means the other 68% is controlled by someone who doesn't speak English. Who is building sites for these people? That is a big market with very little competition. Looks like a nice little niche to me...