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This Week's Quote
There is no such thing as a
worthless conversation, provided
you know what to listen for. And
questions are the breath of life
for a conversation.
- James Nathan Miller
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This Week's Glossary Pick
Digital Divide
Refers to the gap existing between those who
have access to Electronic and Information
Technology, and those who do not. |
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 What
Not to Do!
We talk a lot about what kind of content
should be included in your web site.
Today's web sites can contain plenty of text,
still images, animated graphics, applications
requiring various plug-ins and so on, but
everything you include should be done so
only for good reason, and not just for the
sake of available and abundant technology.
Once you've worked hard to build a web site,
optimized it for search engine favourability
and perhaps spent money on conventional
advertising or on line banners and
pay-per-click ad campaigns, you don't want
to lose your visitor just moments after they
have logged on to your site.
Again last week we touched on Comfort
Factors, now let's look at some Frustration
Factors, what you want to avoid for
inclusion in your site. As a
webmaster, you're always playing a balancing
act - the right amount of text, size and
font of text, the proper use of graphics or
images and the size of the image files for
download time verses quality, when to use
Flash and when not to - well, you get the
picture.
Here are two golden rules to consider when
planning the layout of your site:
1. Determine who you are designing your site
for. Is your target market under 35,
or is it the Baby Boomers, is it intended
for 55 and up? Is your target
market defined by consumer wants or needs -
white collar or blue collar and which if any
of these targets overlap? Your design
must identify with the reader - dialogue,
colour, imagery and overall layout.
2. Is the inclusion of particular content in
the way of text, animation, flash,
applications requiring extra plug-ins really
fulfilling a need or is it there just for
the sake of being there?
Everything included should be for good
reason. In Issue #2, The Elusive
Butterfly, we talked about the danger of
having to much fluff and clutter and not
enough substance.
So here are some areas of design to
carefully consider. Graphics that are
excessively large and/or not compressed
sufficiently for download time.
Imagery should enhance and not overpower a
page. Animation should be used very,
very sparingly. Flash applications are
becoming more and more popular, but should
be used as a special accent on a page and
not in the design of the entire page.
Consider carefully the size of text you will
be using. Test your site's level of
user friendliness by asking ten people who
resemble your target market to view it in
various monitor resolutions and in different
popular browsers.
Like animation, the Blink Tag can be
annoying. Bad grammar and spelling
devalues your site and its credibility.
Broken images and links of course are a
turn-off. You really want to avoid
"Under Construction" signs and notices.
Good colour choice in which one colour
compliments another and/or provides good
contrast, clean backgrounds, and pages that
don't scroll down on and on forever are all
suggested. Too much in the way of
blank space, or run on paragraphs, too many
advertising banners and the use of multiple
plug-ins can all lead to frustration for the
visitor.
It's not just what you have to say, but how
you say it that can garner or turn off your
visitor's interest! |
