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A good web site is one that has been put together with its visitors needs as the most important design brief. There are too many web sites that exist as a monument to the talents and cleverness of their web designer. Lots of sites are based on marketing hype, cutting edge technology and personal ego. All things that are of no interest to the sites visitors.
Decide who your target market is
Good web sites are aimed directly at their target market. You should know more than the usual (age, gender, marital status, level of income, occupation, etc.). You should also know things like how are they connecting to the Internet and the hardware they are likely to use to view and print web pages. A web site for students who access the web through a high-speed connection in college has far fewer design restrictions than a web site for farmers who, in a lot of cases, may be using slow dial-up internet connections. What ALL your visitors want to know
There are some basic questions that visitors to your web site will ask: A lot of sites out there still don't answer any one of these questions, never mind them all! Most visitors will probably arrive from Google or some other search engine and land directly on whatever page their search result has shown to them. They will have no idea where they are unless the web page actually tells them. A Good web site uses uniform pages and graphics with sensible navigation either to the side or top of each page. Content is king
Good web sites know the sort of information and products that visitors might expect and delivers accordingly. Most web visitors use the web to find information and products, not to view fancy animated pictures, slide shows and self-indulgent "flash" movies. Content should be accurate, up to date, short and to the point and easy to find. It is amazing how many visitors to your web site will notice spelling and grammar mistakes that you yourself had never seen. Many, many web pages are filled with poor writing and worse spelling. Spelling and grammar mistakes distract visitors and decrease the credibility of your site leading your visitors to question your commitment to them and business in general. If necessary, get someone who is good at writing or employ the services of a "copywriter" to edit or proof your pages. Page design
Designing for the web is very different from designing for printed materials. Web site visitors control much of a web page's appearance. They can turn graphics on or off. They can make the print smaller or bigger. They can view your page on a small screen. You don't know what size their monitor is or what screen resolution they use. They could be using Internet Explorer, Firefox, a mobile phone or one of many other ways. You should consider your target audience and take all of these factors into account. Only use special effects if they add value to your visitors experience. These include large images, fancy backgrounds, odd text, frames, changing colours and animated graphics. Always remember your target audience. What adds value for children is very different from what adds value for most adults. Animated graphics can be particularly distracting and frames make navigation, printing and being found by search engines difficult. Just because someone else does it doesn't mean that you should. Repeat visitors
You will want visitors to come back again and again. It has been reported that Bookmarks/Favourites are used by up to 83 percent of visitors to return to their favourite sites. So it is extremely important for your site to give them a good reason to add you to their Bookmarks/Favourites. To summarise: Know your visitors likely demographics and technology Keep pages clean and consistent Use simple, straightforward, intuitive navigation Keep content interesting, informative and up-to-date Keep a close eye on your spelling and grammar Only use fancy special effects if they truly benefit the visitor’s experience Give your visitors a reason to add your site to their Bookmarks/Favourites to keep them coming back for more
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