Web Design and Development Tips
Read these 22 Web Design and Development Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Web Development tips and hundreds of other topics.
Good use of color
The Color Wheel shows the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. To find complementary colors (these colors go well together on websites) simply pick a color and look at the color OPPOSITE. For example, yellow's complementary is Purple (which is blue and red's secondary). Balancing color on a website is important. The wrong colors and color combinations can spell disaster - for instance, reds are hot, excitable, angry, blues are soothing. Try to find color combinations that work for the mood, and use the color wheel when in doublt what combinations work well. The color wheel (my crude interpretation of) can be found Here Wikipedia has a good resource on Color Theory.
What is User Acceptance (Usability) Testing?
When creating a website, it's important to consider how people will find and use your website. One of the easiest ways to do this is to performs some simple usability tests like card sorts and scenario tests. Also known as User Acceptance Testing, these tests will help you pinpoint problems with your website design quickly and inexpensively.
Why Hire a Web Copywriter
If you're struggling with writing your website content consider hiring a professional writer to write your web copy. There are several reasons to engage a professional for your project. Web copywriters are seasoned at writing scannable content in an informative - not salesy - voice, and know what areas of a page get users' attention.
What expertise will a web copywriter have?
Writing web site content is different than writing a direct mail campaign, product manual or sales presentation. Your copywriter will know how to engage your readers with content written for maximum 'scanability' and clarity.
Why Hire a Web Copywriter: Hot Spots for Content
Your copywriter can work with your web design firm to ensure the design you will choose has engaging content in the 'hot spots' (top left and right corners and bottom right area) on your pages. Use these areas of the page to your best advantage by filling them with informative content for your users.
Why Hire a Web Copywriter: Step Away from Your Content
Having trouble reducing your marketing content for use on the web? You may be too close to the subject. Step away from writing and allow a web copywriter to interview you, ask questions and consider your customers' needs from another angle.
Standards
When starting a new project (or jumping into an existing project) define a set of standards for function and variable names. This may sounds simple and maybe even irrelevant, but creating a document defining these standards will go a long way towards code management and maintenence. For example, if you prefix every variable or function/sub call with the type of call and the return value (or variable type), use case-consistency, and name functions/variables properly, you only need to glance at a function name or variable name to know what the return value is, whether it's a function, sub or variable, and what it does. Here's an example of a FUNCTION that returns a STRING value of a person's username: fnStrGetUserName(). Here's an example of a global variable, that is a long number, and holds a value of a calculation of a circle: gvLngCircleValue. Pretty self-explanatory. AND somewhat self-documenting. The more readable your code, the less comments you need, the less chance someone might misuse the variable or function (and throw an error), and the better chance someone ELSE will be able to read your code.
Standards
When starting a new project (or jumping into an existing project) define a set of standards for function and variable names. This may sounds simple and maybe even irrelevant, but creating a document defining these standards will go a long way towards code management and maintenence. For example, if you prefix every variable or function/sub call with the type of call and the return value (or variable type), use case-consistency, and name functions/variables properly, you only need to glance at a function name or variable name to know what the return value is, whether it's a function, sub or variable, and what it does. Here's an example of a FUNCTION that returns a STRING value of a person's username: fnStrGetUserName(). Here's an example of a global variable, that is a long number, and holds a value of a calculation of a circle: gvLngCircleValue. Pretty self-explanatory. AND somewhat self-documenting. The more readable your code, the less comments you need, the less chance someone might misuse the variable or function (and throw an error), and the better chance someone ELSE will be able to read your code.
Stylize!
When you start your project, make sure you also create a style sheet file. Why? Consistency, Maintenance, Uniformity, and a ton of other $10 words. Style sheets are text files that contain formatting information. They can apply to your entire site, so that if you want to for example, change all the fonts in ALL you site's tables, you can do it in one file, in one line of code. Style sheets can contain information such as table widths, font styles, background colors and images, etc. For a better example, see www.meridiandevelopmentsystems.com/lifetips/02.htm. The CSS specification can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/ - this contains the actual CSS implementation as per the w3.org
Maintain your Content: Fix Broken Links
If your website is riddled with broken links, your users will most certainly move on to another website. Be sure to run a link checker on your site at least once a week. You can set some link checkers to run automatically. This will ensure you find – and FIX - dead links, missing images or broken scripts in a timely manner.
Maintain your Content
Websites are like plants. If you don't give them the proper care and feeding, they'll just sit in the corner and dry up. You wouldn't leave a dead plant in your reception area, so think of your website in the same way. You'll want to update your content regularly and be sure to make sure there are no broken links or scripts.
Writing Good Web Content: Meaningful Headlines
Give your users a clear vision of your content at a glance. Reserve bold text for headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, etc.) and use italic text to emphasize ideas and keywords within a paragraph. Never use an underline to draw attention to a word on your website, as users often mistake underlined words for clickable links.
Tips for Writing Web Content – Keep it Simple!
To write good web content, you need to first familiarize yourself with how your visitors will read your content. Did you know that only 16% of people surfing the web read web pages word-for-word? If you're struggling with how to write your web content, you might consider hiring a web copywriter.
Maintain your Content: Keep your home page fresh!
Users will stop returning to your web site if they see the same old information on the front page every time. Consider highlighting press releases, events or other items your users will find interesting. Change it up visually. If you're using a eye-catching image on your front page, consider changing it quarterly to maintain visual interest.
It's All About Content
The most important aspect of any website is the content. If your web page is full of timely, useful, informative content, your users will return again and again. However, this doesn't mean you can publish tomes of text and expect your site to be a raging success. The trick is presenting content in a manner that will get the information across as the user scans the page. You can catch the readers' attention with bulleted lists, links within your text and catchy, informative headlines.
Writing Good Web Content: Bite-sized Bulleted Bits
Bulleted lists are crucial to good web content. Using bulleted lists, and keeping items short and sweet, you can convey your most important points quickly and in a scannable format. Bulleted items should contain as few words as possible to get your point across.
Maintain your Content: Toss the Old!
Remove outdated content! No one wants to read about a great product offer only to have the sales person they contact tell them you no longer make that item. If you're using a content management system, consider setting an expiration date for time- sensitive content. Search engines and users alike prefer websites with easy-to-find, well written, fresh content.
Writing Good Web Content: Short Pages and Paragraphs
Keep your pages short! 300 - 500 words per page is a good benchmark to set. Users like to see all the content on the page in one screen, and tend to lose interest in anything 'below the fold'. Paragraphs should also be short and scannable with keywords called out in the text using hyperlinks. Each short paragraph short should focus on a single idea.
Why Hire a Web Copywriter: Use an Informative Voice.
Web copywriters know that formula isn't everything. A catchy headline, short paragraphs and bulleted lists are helpful to the user, but if your content is written in a selling voice rather than an informative voice, readers are likely to click away. Web copywriters know how to reach your readers without trying to sell them - highlighting the benefits of your products – not the just the features.
Stylize!
When you start your project, make sure you also create a style sheet file. Why? Consistency, Maintenance, Uniformity, and a ton of other $10 words. Style sheets are text files that contain formatting information. They can apply to your entire site, so that if you want to for example, change all the fonts in ALL you site's tables, you can do it in one file, in one line of code. Style sheets can contain information such as table widths, font styles, background colors and images, etc. For a better example, see www.meridiandevelopmentsystems.com/lifetips/02.htm. The CSS specification can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/ - this contains the actual CSS implementation as per the w3.org
Writing Good Web Content: Important Info First!
When writing content for your web site, be certain to use the 'inverted triangle' approach. Users are unlikely to scroll to find what they're looking for on your page, so it's important to put your most important information at the top of the page. Get to the point. Don't waste your readers' time with fluff.
Maintain your Content: Add Content All the Time
It's easy to keep your content fresh. Publish your email newsletters or white papers to your website. Your users will appreciate the new content. Additionally, give your users ability to search your these archives for information. Password protect these areas if you're concerned about competitors seeing sensitive information.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Carma Spence-Pothitt |
