Five Good Web Design Tips

These are 5 tip for some of things to keep in mind when designing your web site:

1. Red On Blue Isn’t Good
   Not only red text on a blue background but any color (except white) on a black background, light text on white backgrounds and dark text on dark backgrounds don’t work! Especially if you have a lot of text, it is very important that it is easy to read and doesn’t hurt people’s eyes. Surprisingly enough, red text is used on a blue background a lot, even though it is one of the worst combinations of colors.
2. I Don’t Like Your Java Clock
   Don’t bother putting ‘Eye Candy’ on your site like java clocks and menus with sounds unless it serves a real purpose. You might think it makes you look clever, but it doesn’t (unless you wrote the software yourself of course)! Anyone can copy and paste an applet from another website and they usually don’t really improve your site. Some browsers don’t support them either so it really isn’t worth it. Also bear in mind while Adobe Flash is “cool” it does not work on Apple iPads and iPhones.
3. Popup Window? I’m Leaving!
   One of the worst things I have seen on websites, both personal and semiprofessional ones is popup windows when you first visit. They are very annoying to visitors. Also bear in mind many users have software installed on their computers to prevent unintended popups.
4. I Don’t Wait For Ads To Load
   I have seen all too many sites which are covered in ads. Although it may be tempting to have more advertising to try and make more money but just 2 or 3 highly targeted adverts will make you more money and your visitors won’t give up and leave, either.
5. Hide That Counter!
   Ask yourself this: “Are we still living in the year 1996?” Or better yet, “Why do I need to show the number of visitors I’ve had on my site?” Can you think of a good reason? It is extremely important to track your visitors, especially as your site grows, but showing the actual number of visitors serves no good purpose. If you have very few visitors then people who see that on your site will think it is unpopular, has no good content and will leave. If you have a lot of visitors then people won’t really care about how many visitors you’ve had. It is better to use a good tracking service should as Google Analytics and don’t use a ‘counter’ at all.