Design and Page Layout Issues

Good design is often not the site that makes people say “wow”. In fact, the most common comment I get

on my sites is, “It was well organized, efficient, and easy to find what I wanted.” Not that awesome

graphics and creativity aren't appreciated, just that if you have to choose between eye candy and

intelligent design, take the intelligence!

Design and Page Layout go hand in hand.

With web design, graphical elements, text, navigation, and other

bits of information and content have to be organized on a page in a way that makes sense.

Navigation is

covered in more depth in another chapter, but it does sort of blend into this topic as well.

Traditional page layout techniques have been adapted to the web, and some of the same terms are now used as

in the publishing field. For practical purposes, there are three major rules about page layout that will help you to

insure that your site welcomes instead of repelling, and draws people in instead of confusing them:

1.

Most important information goes in the upper left.

That is where people look first. They also expect

to find your most important links in a business site on the left side, or across the top. The upper left

quarter of the page should contain the thing you want them to see and understand first.

2.

The pages should contain enough information “above the fold” for the visitor to tell what the site

(if it is the home page) or page (for interior pages) is about.

The expression “above the fold” refers

to the part of the site they will see BEFORE they scroll down. Scrolling down is fine, but the part they

see first should give them enough to know whether they SHOULD scroll down, and what they are likely

to find if they do. Use this space wisely, you only get one chance with it!

3.

It is ok to have a site that has lots of information, but it is NOT ok to have a cluttered and

confusing site.

If you have a ton of information, it must be organized well, and arranged in a way that is

pleasing to the eye, as well as logical to follow.

Design is also as much an issue of logical and pleasing arrangement with web design, as it is of cool

graphics.

The right graphics can take a site from mediocre to amazing, but even average graphics won't be a

detriment to a site that is otherwise professionally laid out – bad ones (blurry, lacking needed detail or impact)

will hurt it though.

Coordinated colors, and good use of color is a great enhancement to a site. It doesn't matter whether it is highly

colored, or mostly white, as long as the color scheme is well coordinated, and as long as it suits the topic and

target audience.

We have found that good color coordination is perhaps one of the main elements in

taking a site from “not quite right but I don't know why”, to “Ooooh. I like that!”.

Colors include

backgrounds, fonts, graphical elements, even the photos used in the site.

Colors have a meaning, but that meaning often depends on the context in which they are used. The important

thing is, the right colors for your business and for your target market, combined together in a way that welcomes

and appeals, is one of the important things in good design, and also affects the perception of trust. Because if

they feel “right” to the visitor, they are more likely to trust you.

Red is often used to emphasize.

We have discovered that the RIGHT color of red for your site takes it from

glaring and obnoxious contrast, to an attention getter that nevertheless coordinates with the feel and design of

the site. Darken it, or push it a little into the blue or brown spectrum, or lighten it a little, to make it fit with your

color scheme.

A good design should also have a coordinated style.

It does not matter so much WHAT the style is, as long

as the message it sends is consistent with your business message, and as long as it all works together to deliver

the SAME message.

Many times, the difference between a site that doesn't quite work as intended, and one that pops

together, is a small thing – a single color, a single element, a tweak to a graphic, a small change

to the arrangement of things.

One of the key differences between a truly professional designer, and an amateur is that a pro never

 

becomes attached to an idea.

They understand that a concept that sounds good on the phone may not be able

to be carried out with the necessary effectiveness when it is actually attempted. They are not afraid to scrap and

entire design if it just is not working.

Sometimes the part you like the most is the part that does not really

work in the overall scheme. Let it go, and move on.

Focus on making the WHOLE thing work, and not on

staying within confines of preferences that hamper your ability to have a site that really works in every way.

Because once again, it is not about what YOU like, it is about what WORKS.

Design issues are also sometimes affected by technical issues which are not readily apparent until you study

web design a little.

Large graphics are slow to load.

Saving them in a compressed format helps make them

smaller, but even highly compressed, larger graphics can cause problems that a new designer may not realize

are a problem.

Use of GIF animations should be conservative.

The general rule is one per page, but if you have a very long

page, you can use more than one, but only if no more than one is showing on the screen at one time (as you

scroll down the page).

GIF animations should also be slowed down – rates that are too fast, or colors that

flash too intensely will distract, annoy, and can even (in some situations) trigger seizures in sensitive

people (no exaggeration!).

If your animation has words, make sure the frame rate is set so that you can

comfortably read them in between frames.

Javascript rollovers and Flash buttons are also problematic, require extra coding and graphics that take more

time to download, and rarely truly add something meaningful to a site. Usually if you eliminate them, you can use

an alternate that is faster, more efficient, and far easier to maintain long term.

Keep it simple is also a cardinal

rule for great design.

Remember, the best site designs rarely win awards. In fact, if the customer thinks about it at all, it will be

to think, “oh, nice... it works!”.

But usually the best site designs just feel right, so much so that the customer

never even thinks about it – and when it is that comfortable, they don't hesitate much before they click the “buy”

button either.

Great sites don't wow people, they just quietly perform their job – welcoming people in and giving them

what they want, while you get what you want, too.