Website design
A well designed and carefully structured website is an asset to any business, a poorly designed website is more than likely to be a liability. Good content, clear navigation, smart coding ... lead to an effective website designed to work for people and search engines.
What is good website design?
There are many possible answers to this question (probably as many as there are web designers) as people's personal tastes, likes, dislikes and opinions enter the discussion so there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer. Good websites work, they attract people, they list well in the search engines and they are a clear asset.
Here are some aspects of website design to consider:
- Target Audience - approach the website from their perspective
- Content - this is what the web site is all about
- Presentation - the look, layout, image, graphics to portray your company brand
- Navigation - how to find what you are looking for, easily
- Search Engines - design for search engine optimisation from the start
- Accessibility - allow for universal access
- Download times - do you want a fast site?
Design for your Target Audience
Website design should be approached from the perspective of the target audience rather than from the perspective of the web site owner. The website should be usable from their perspective, it should be logical and present information in the language of the target audience.
If there are several different target audiences it is probably best to sub-devide the web site into suitable sections for each. Otherwise it is most likely that it will not be focussed on the right audience.
Content: the most important element of Website Design
Content plays an important role in communicating with your customers and achieving Search Engine success. Content is the number one priority in web design and our content page covers this in more detail.
Presentation: the look
A website is a company's shop window to the world. The image that you want to present is important. For most companies this is likely to mean clear, clean, professional and business like. For web design this is likely to mean staying in the main stream of opinion on how a quality website should look which is likely to mean:
- Using the company logo and company corporate colours in a complimentary way to the main background colour of the site which will usually be white
- Most text will be in a dark colour and a common web font (perhaps Arial or Verdana)
- Text should be coded in html text, rather than a contained in a graphic, to aid search engines and accessibility
- Graphics are used in a minimalist and complimentary manner
- Watermarks if used should not interfere with the readability of the content
- Animated images should not be used just for the sake of putting movement on the page
- Cartoon images should only be used with caution - they can create the wrong impression
Graphic Design or Website Design
Most website design exercises start with some pictures of what a web site could look like. It is difficult to get away from the fact that everyone likes to see some graphic designs to choose what their website should look like first. It also makes a certain amount of sense from the web designers perspective to sort out the look of the website before concentrating on creating all the web pages.

The trouble is that too much emphasis can be put on the look of the website at the expense of the content. We find ourselves worrying about the colours, the curves, the photos, the shapes, the images, the bullet points, the icons, the backgound, the watermark and all the other graphic elements rather than the text content. The vast majority of web sites are visited for their content not because they look nice.
Graphics have their place but for most web sites they are of secondary concern. It does of course depend on your target audience and the industry you operate in (if your target audience is teenagers and you are in the entertainment industry graphics may well become a bigger feature).
- Images - Ask yourself if they add value. If they do make sure they are optimised for use on the web as they will slow down the website. Search engines cannot interpret graphics so make sure you have alternative text for anything meaningful being portrayed by a graphic image.
- Animated Graphics - These are distracting and they slow down the website. Banner ads are generally regarded as ineffective these days and people tend to ignore anything that looks like a banner advert.
- Flash Movies - These have their place in entertainment or as demonstrations. As introductions to a web site they will probably irritate most visitors. ("Click here to enter the site" particularly so.) They are very slow and can have a big impact on website speed. They can also stop search engines from indexing the website effectively .
The Website Designers Dilemma: Design for a Fixed Size or Fit to Window
Do I fix the size and presentation of the design. These means fixing all the proportions of the page (usually to fit within the commonly regarded minimum screen size of 800x600) regardless of the screen resolution or browser settings of the visitor.
Or
Do I lose a lot of control over appearance and allow the content to flow into the browser window.
This is a tough one on the website designer but the main consideration is to put the control in the hands of the visitor not the web designer (this is one really big difference between graphic design and web design). Thus allowing visitors to choose their own screen resolution and browser preferences. Sometimes this means the web page is not presented as well as it could be particularly if there is little text content and the screen is set on high resolution.
Navigation - a vital component of Website Design
Web site navigation must be designed to be intuitive. This will keep your visitors stimulated and interested by allowing them to tour your website without getting lost or disorientated!
You should know where you are, navigation should be easy to follow, easy to find your way back. A clear and logical website structure helps visitors get the most out of your web site.
Common practice has created certain expectations about website navigation and following the common practices helps visitors.
Common navigation throughout the website helps visitors through familiarisation. People can also enter a site through any page, not just the homepage - if guided by a search engine or links from external sites - so common navigation helps them find their way around a web site from every and any page. They should be able to reach the homepage from any page within the web site.
- Navigation can be split between Primary navigation (most important links - the main purpose of the website - products and services etc) and secondary navigation (about the company, contact information, site map, terms and conditions, privacy policy etc)
- Left navigation is the most natural for left to right readers
- Top navigation bar leaves more room below for content and other relevant information
- Text menus at the bottom of pages are an additional aid for long pages
- Unusual navigation tends to confuse visitors and you could be putting them off
- Too many links on one page tends to be overwhelming (10 is good, 20 is probably too many)
- Bread crumbs showing people where they are can be helpful
- Sitemaps help visitors and search engines find all pages
- Help visitors find what they are looking for in as few clicks as possible
Internal linking between pages is an important feature of website navigation. It allows visitors to find related information quickly. Internal linking can also help search engine spiders to find their way to every single page.
Website Design and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Surprisingly Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is often an after thought and not included as part of web design. It is
often treated as a separate skill from web design and often done by separate people or separate
companies. Adding Search Engine Optimisation to a web site at a later date is not the best approach.
There are 2 routes taken to SEO:
- Tricks to fool and deceive search engines - which sometimes work for a while until the search engine fills the loophole in the logic and is the approach often used when SEO is an afterthought
- Design the website to be search engine friendly. This is the better long term strategy if the web site is to reach its full potential in the search engines
You can read more on our Search Engine Optimisation services and you can also visit our Search
Engine Success site if you want to learn more about the detail of what is involved.
Website Design and Web Accessibility
The world of technology is opening up new avenues for people with disabilities. Your website should be designed with accessibility in mind.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 has brought about changes in legislation resulting in the need for companies to be increasingly aware of accessibility issues. The wording of the Act did not mention on-line services specifically. In February 2002 a Code of Practice was published which removes any ambiguity by defining that the Act does apply to on-line services such as websites.
To date no company in the UK has been taken to task on this legal issue however the subject continues to become hotter. It is only a matter of time before this issue is taken very seriously in the UK.
Please visit Disability and Your Website for more information or you can our accessibility website www.web-accessibility.co.uk to learn more about accessibility issues.
Website Design for Fast Download Times
Many people have broadband many do not. Even those with broadband are often amazed how slow it can be for websites to download as their broadband connections slow from the number of users sharing facilities.
A fast loading site is better than a slow loading site. There are numerous factors that govern the speed of a website not least of which is the congestion on the internet. However there is quite a lot about the website design that affects download speed such as:
- graphic files (large files or lots of small ones, animations, flash movies etc)
- web page code (javascript to create fancy effects)
- html structure (excessive use of tables to layout a web design instead of css)
- server code (database access and processing)
The content is often the smallest part of the page!
Regards
Michael Spencer, Managing Director.
michael@epsilis.co.uk
Epsilis - Website Designers
47 Farthing Drive
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire (Herts)
SG6 2TR
UK






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