Top 10 tips for successful website design

If I had to give anyone some tips on how to go about designing their website, I would say to keep it simple. There is no harm in looking at other websites that you like and enjoy for inspiration, but if it’s your first website, then don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. Your website should evolve in line with your business so don’t go over thinking it or over designing it.

Here are my top ten common sense tips:

1. Keep it consistent. There is nothing worse than having the content and layout jump around the screen to put people off.
2. Make sure any images or pictures you use are of the same dimensions throughout.
3. Don’t use more than 3 styles of fonts and then only sparingly.
4. Never use primary red and blue coloured fonts (it may have worked in the early 1990s but not now)
5. Don’t overload the screen with information. White space is good, gives the eyes a rest and the chance for your content to shine through.
6. Keep all headings, titles and body text consistent (that ‘c’ word again).
7. Stay away from ‘comic sans’ font it’s not nice or funny.
8. Make sure that your navigation is simple and clear for the user to understand.
9. Don’t have a ‘splash’ page on a HTML site, it is just pointless. They were designed for Flash sites back in the early days when people were on dial-up and had wait for the page to load.
10. Keep it consistent (see a theme here?).

I hope the above helps you on your exciting foray into web design. If you are still stuck, then you can contact someone like me and I’ll do it for you for a modest fee + chocolate buttons.