Tuesday, 02 March 2010 09:37 | Written by Administrator
Elements of a good website are hard to capture. However, even a web design novice can tell a successful website from a jumbled one. This is by simply looking at its layout and briefly skimming through its content. So, any qualified web developer will tell you that a successful website needs a nice overall outlook. A nice looking overall outlook is just one among the many elements of a good website.
There are more that even a host of articles have been dedicated on. As an insider in the intricate web designing world I have noticed five key elements that experienced web designers have utilized to develop websites with some success.
Overall Outlook
The overall outlook of a site should be consistently attractive, both in its impression and theme. The first impression of a website is to captivate. A captivating website can be achieved by using the three basic color schemes well. These are:
(1) Analogous: Uses colors next to each on a color wheel.
(2) Complementary: Combines colors directly across of each other on a color wheel.
(3) Monochromatic: Different hues the same color are used to bring about some desired effect.
It is worth noting that colors also portray important themes of a website. If your site is dedicated on weddings then it is expected that black won’t feature prominently in your layout.
The theme should be focused, clear and obvious. We are living in a fast life and no one has the time to crack up some metaphorical message you fancy being in your site.
Also for a nice overall outlook, remember to use fonts that are not only attractive, but essentially easy to read and understand, for example Times New Roman should be preferred to Bauhaus 93 for a website with a lot of content in most websites.
Content
Before visiting a website, one is tickled by the need to get something. And so the question in his mind as he contemplates visiting your site is “What’s in it for me.” It is really important that you answer this question satisfactorily. Your site may include things such as information, bulletin board, search engines, directory, entertainment, advice, solutions to a problem, opportunities to network with likeminded, and links to useful sites as its content.
Anticipate the needs of potential visitors by putting what you deem are relevant.
Navigation
A sensible navigation scheme can easily qualify as the most vital aspect of a website. Your site should be easy to navigate, load and provide customers with useful information. Thus your site should be simple, logical and understandable. It should not by any chance confuse customers. However, it should tell them exactly what to get on your site, clearly guide them to the parts they require with some ease, and also make it easier for them to request additional information.
It should have a well-structured navigational bar. It is conventional and advantageous for a navigation bar to run from left to right, top to bottom. This is because we’re accustomed to reading from left to right and top to bottom, at least in English. Unless you’re dealing with an Arabic site, do not change that.
Speed
It becomes frustrating whenever a customer clicks on a link and it takes ages for another page to pop up. Such an event can make a site lose useful clients as customers migrate to another faster similar site.
Make sure that your homepage at least loads faster. This means avoiding huge flashy graphic images on that first stoppage point to any web visitor.
Clear Contact Information
Your site may have all the above enumerated elements, and a bunch of others that we can not highlight, but should your contact information miss out, or even be flimsy, you have done a shoddy job.
Strategically place contact information above the fold on each page so that potential clients can always reach you easily should they have further questions that they need answered.
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