Thread: Do's and Don'ts of Web site design

So I am getting ready to redevelop my Web site and I've been doing a lot of market research. ..g.: I am posting this here because the techie forum is kind of a dead zone, but I asked people to post examples of their favorite Web sites.

Anyway, during this whole process, I found some do's and don'ts. Here's my short DO list.

DO:
Do list the name of the city you are in, and possibly the state. List this prominently on the home page and if possible on every page. You have no idea how many dancers do not do this, and I'm like, "where the h*ll are you?"

Do keep it simple. Graphics are nice, but if they are not clean or if they are too large, they make your site look sloppy and hard to read.

Do stick to ONE color scheme. Some people have a different color and or background for every page. This is distracting.

Do use common fonts. There are only a handful of fonts that are "universal."

Do use meta-tags and meta-descriptions. If you don't know what they are, ask your Web designer or my best friend, Google.

Do resize your pictures before placing them in the Web site.

Do update your content. Last night I found a Web site that hadn't been updated since 1998. Seriously.

Do use convention. Follow best practices: 10 Principles Of Effective Web Design | How-To | Smashing Magazine

Please add or substract and tell me what you thinks works and what doesn't.
Thanks!

BTW, this post is NOT referring to any of the sites that were posted on the referenced forum.

I would say

DO filter through your dance photos & pick your best ones. Quality over quantity !!!

Do make information easy to find. People have very short attention spans when web-browsing. If the navigation stinks they'll leave.

Don't make anything more than three or four clicks away from your homepage. Don't assume your viewer knows how to use the Back button.

Minimize scrolling and the amount of text people have to read through to get information. Try to avoid pop-up or new windows. I'm not crazy about intros and music on websites. If you're going to do it, definitely have a skip/mute option.

Definitely have contact info on each page. I totally agree Andalee, I have run across many websites where it not clear at all where the dancer is located.

Have easy to find intuitive navigation menus

Get someone to edit your website!! Nothing worse than coming across a good-looking site only to find it littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Kills the whole professional feeling. As an extension of this thought, if you're having a website translated into another language(s), try and find a native speaker of that language to review the translation. I've come across so many stilted and incorrect English versions of non-English sites.

I think it's become important not only to have good quality pictures, but also video.

If you're teaching classes, put location and prices on the site.

That's what I've got for now.

I will probably get lambasted for this, but I HATE gratuitous displays of Flash and I also despise background music. My sister and her fiance are both web designers and they refuse to go Flash-crazy on their clients.

True, it looks and sounds cool from an aesthetic standpoint, but today's consumer has the attention span of a jelly bean, for the most part. If your big, elaborate intro takes 20 seconds to load, then an additional 20 seconds to play (even if the viewer can skip the intro), odds are pretty good that if they don't have all day to wait for the critical info they need, they'll head straight to your competitor's site instead.

Not to mention, there's the potential that somebody might not have up-to-date Flash components installed on their computer, or that their connection might be slow, or something glitchy might happen and they won't see your site, period. And, believe it or not, some people in the world still have dial-up connections. I've also heard that Flash can f*ck up your search ranking, if that's important to you.

Some dancers love to have a song that plays when their page loads, but I think this can be a caveat to customers who are browsing your site at work, and an annoyance if you're already listening to music in the background or not in the mood to hear the lastest BDSS cut.

I think a simple, beautiful layout, flattering promo pictures and sparkling ad copy are worth their weight in 25 Flash intros alone.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I will probably get lambasted for this, but I HATE gratuitous displays of Flash and I also despise background music.

I agree. Flash is evil, for all the reasons you said. I gave my sister-in-law a web site for Christmas for her medical practice (she's a surgeon in private practice). She requested an animation on the splash page because she wanted her site to come across as really polished, impressive, etc. I vetoed her original request because it would have required flash to do it. We compromised on something I could do with a GIF. (If anyone is curious to see the site, it's here: Comprehensive Breast Care of Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Dr. Juliann Reiland-Smith, Female Surgeon Specializing in Breast Cancer )

Shira, that looks amazing. My boyfriend and I have been working on my site and, while I refuse to let him use Flash, I love the glimmer effect. It never occured to me that we could use a GIF to get that little twinkle....do you know where we might be able to find the code for something like that? That would look amazing on my splash page.

OK, not to be too negative, but I really don't like splash pages. It's an extra click and they really don't do anything. Adding flash and music to it, makes it pretty much unbearable. My beau is a Web developer and he says they are out of fashion.

and the best thing that bellydancers can have on their websites?

MAPS that show where their classes are located or where your regular performance venue is located!

Not everyone knows where Oojaqafibby St or Belly Restaurant is, or they could've seen the street or restaurant in their travels and can't remember where it is.

A link to a google map that opens in a new window can have your potential new student, or someone wanting to experience the glamourous you shimmying it up at Belly Restaurant, printing out those directions in a flash (no pun intended, lol)

Samiya

Do not have any music or video that starts playing automatically upon page load. Nothing will chase me away from a site faster.

Avoid too much text!

If people won't wait for a splash page, they sure as heck won't read the War and Peace length bio you've written!

These things make me grumpy. My "don'ts":

1) DO NOT use white as a background.

2) See #1

3) No flash

4) No auto-playing music or other sounds.

5) DO NOT use white as a background.

I love white backgrounds. HATE text over an image or pattern.

Originally Posted by zorba

These things make me grumpy. My "don'ts":

1) DO NOT use white as a background.

2) See #1

3) No flash

4) No auto-playing music or other sounds.

5) DO NOT use white as a background.

Waaahhh!!!!!!!! I just completely upgraded our website, and because you don't like white backgrounds, here's the link...... lmao ..l;,

Welcome to Flaming Sands:* The Cool School Of Bellydance & Percussion

luvs ya Zorba

Originally Posted by zorba

These things make me grumpy. My "don'ts":

1) DO NOT use white as a background.

2) See #1

3) No flash

4) No auto-playing music or other sounds.

5) DO NOT use white as a background.

I read somewhere that dark backgrounds with a sans serif in a light color are easiest to read on screens, and that the opposite should apply for print. Don't know how much truth there is to that.

I want to chime in on the music. It scares the hell out of me, because I'm usually listening to my own music or have been, so the volume isn't low. Please don't do it!

I notice some people don't do is check for browser compatibility. What looks amazing on your computer may look horrible on mine.

Make it easy to navigate. Keep a bar or column with links to other parts of your site, and use descriptive words what that page is.

Yes, please check for browser compatibility. Most people use IE6 or 7, but I use Chrome.

Along the same lines, make sure your Web site is optimized for different screen sizes and resolutions. Set it so it doesn't look all wonky on different monitors. *(I don't really know how to sound more educated on that one. LOL.)

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

OK, not to be too negative, but I really don't like splash pages. It's an extra click and they really don't do anything. Adding flash and music to it, makes it pretty much unbearable. My beau is a Web developer and he says they are out of fashion.

I hate the splash pages that don't have navigation options on them - ie, ones whose sole "navigation" is to have a spot marked "enter" that you click on in order to get to the "real" menu.

I don't mind splash pages that have the major navigation options incorporated into them - ie, hot spots you can click on to go directly to the major menu options.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

OK, not to be too negative, but I really don't like splash pages. It's an extra click and they really don't do anything. Adding flash and music to it, makes it pretty much unbearable. My beau is a Web developer and he says they are out of fashion.

This is really interesting, Andalee. I've been on the fence about this (to splash or not to splash?) and will definitely take this into consideration as I work on my site.

In lieu of a splash page, I kind of like a "Home" page that briefly states your name, your title (Professional Belly Dancer Extraordinaire), contact info, maybe a quick blurb of "news" about one of your upcoming media appearances or a new venue that you dance at, and has all the navigable options at the toolbar thingy at the top.

Originally Posted by mish_mish

Avoid too much text!

If people won't wait for a splash page, they sure as heck won't read the War and Peace length bio you've written!

Guilty as charged

Adding some do's and don'ts ...


DO check how your page looks on different browsers and different sized monitors. Sometimes what looks awesome on one looks horrible on another.

DON'T use font sizes that are too small ... and please be sure that they are scalable via the browser options. (My eyes aren't great and sometimes I come across sites that have microscopic text, I generally enlarge it for reading but sometimes the text is actually an image & can't be scaled)

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

This is really interesting, Andalee. I've been on the fence about this (to splash or not to splash?) and will definitely take this into consideration as I work on my site.

In lieu of a splash page, I kind of like a "Home" page that briefly states your name, your title (Professional Belly Dancer Extraordinaire), contact info, maybe a quick blurb of "news" about one of your upcoming media appearances or a new venue that you dance at, and has all the navigable options at the toolbar thingy at the top.

Here's a good alternative to a splash page: Professional Belly Dancer - Michelle Joyce - arabic dance.
I only wish the menu was a little higher up, because I have to scroll to see it. scrolling to get to navigation = bad. However, I am on a laptop, so my screen dimensions are different. But that brings me to my point above, to check to make sure the Web site is compatible with most standard size screens and resolutions.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

I read somewhere that dark backgrounds with a sans serif in a light color are easiest to read on screens, and that the opposite should apply for print. Don't know how much truth there is to that.

Quite a bit - at least for *my* eyeballs.

Mini-rant. The PC has thrown away, or bastardized ever industry standard ever created. The military did a study in the 1940s - at a huge cost of course - to find out what color scheme worked best for displays. The good old fashioned green on black was the winner. Now we have black on white... yea right. ,m::

Originally Posted by Nasreena

DON'T use font sizes that are too small ... and please be sure that they are scalable via the browser options. (My eyes aren't great and sometimes I come across sites that have microscopic text, I generally enlarge it for reading but sometimes the text is actually an image & can't be scaled)

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and YESSSSS!!!!!

There are a TON of websites out there that have forms that won't scale. I have my "minimum font size" set to 18 - which causes some poorly written forms (almost always software generated) to only show the top half of the letters!

Bhuz is a good example of a pretty darn good web design. A medium mustard yellow background, it scales well, etc, etc.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Here's a good alternative to a splash page: Professional Belly Dancer - Michelle Joyce - arabic dance.
I only wish the menu was a little higher up, because I have to scroll to see it. scrolling to get to navigation = bad. However, I am on a laptop, so my screen dimensions are different. But that brings me to my point above, to check to make sure the Web site is compatible with most standard size screens and resolutions.

Yeah, I actually used her site as a case study when showing my boyfriend what I want last night! I just think it's good to get all the contact info and the basics right where impatient customers can see it ..l;, And Michelle's looks clean and professional.

Just for curiosity's sake, what screen sizes are people using? I decided to format Shira.net to be optimized for 800x600, though I realize most PC's and laptops these days have larger dimensions. I also like the fact that the current design for Shira.net makes it possible to use it on a small device such as my PalmPilot.

Regarding font sizes - YES! Please don't use tiny fonts! I like web sites that are formatted with a font size of 12 points, nothing smaller. Also, please PLEASE have good contrast between your background color and your font color. I've seen some dancer web sites that had black text against a forest green or coppery brown background that made me wonder WHAT WAS SHE THINKING when she designed that?

Another don't: using free, advertiser-supported web sites such as Geocities, Angelfire, etc. They're ugly. You have no control over the ads they choose to display. They take forever to load all those ads, and they load your hard disk up with cookies to track your actions. Anybody who isn't willing to pay $5-$10 per month for a "real" web site is basically telling the world they shouldn't take her seriously as a working professional.

My screen is 1440 x 900.

Never use an animated background. I find them distracting, even for something like MySpace

Originally Posted by *shira*

just for curiosity's sake, what screen sizes are people using? I decided to format shira.net to be optimized for 800x600, though i realize most pc's and laptops these days have larger dimensions. I also like the fact that the current design for shira.net makes it possible to use it on a small device such as my palmpilot.

1280 x 800

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Just for curiosity's sake, what screen sizes are people using?

A quick check on Google analytics on my site's visits over the last month:

screen size - no of visits - percentage of total visits
1. - 1024x768 - 217 - 37.03%
2. - 1280x800 - 119 - 20.31%
3. - 1280x1024 - 100 - 17.06%
4. - 1440x900 - 35 - 5.97%
5. - 800x600 - 23 - 3.92%
6. - 1152x864 - 21 - 3.58%
7. - 1680x1050 - 21 - 3.58%
8. - 1280x768 - 11 - 1.88%
9. - 1024x600 - 7 - 1.19%
10. - 1280x960 - 6 - 1.02%

Shira, I'm sure on a site as big and as well visited as yours your stats would show a much clearer statistical picture. But it looks like only a very tiny minority use a screen resolution of 800x600.

The information on Statcounter's site about how this statistical information can be used reads:
What decision can the resolution stats help with?

It is a very good idea to develop and test websites that will work well for all screen resolutions. But of course there is always that perfect resolution where your website will always look its best and you could consider optimising to suit the majority of your visitors. This stat can help with that decision!