Author: Ruchira Sharma
Content is the king, this is not to be forgotten ever! Any user
coming to your website is there to get some information. If that
information is hard to get, user will leave your website and go
to Google to find out an alternate source.

Legibility of text is one of the most important things to be
kept in mind. Selection of appropriate font-size and keeping
adequate contract between text and background are too things
that should always be kept in mind while making a website
template.

Some researchers even claim that restricting font size by using
CSS (where the design specifies a fixed font size value) is
another thing that irritates users who like to customize the
font size as per their visibility preferences.

Always keeping target user segment in mind while deciding the
font-size.

Standardize navigation

* Always distinguish hyperlinked text from normal body text.
Don’t forget to differentiate visited and unvisited links. *
Include some of the key information-carrying terms in the anchor
text itself to explain what users will find at the other end of
the link. This will also aid in search engine optimization
(SEO). * Try to avoid opening pages in new windows. A lot of PC
owners have their pop-ups blocked, while the ones who don’t,
feel lost when a new window opens.

Use of Media Elements

Flash and other media elements such as video, MP3 etc. should be
used only when there is a need. Flash can be used to emphasize
key information or better still to demonstrate some
functionality. The latest version of Flash is has amazing
features to add functionality to a website.

So, the idea is to use media elements sensible and if-and-when
required. Despite such good intentions, most of the Flash that
Web users encounter each day is bad Flash with no purpose beyond
annoying people. The one bright point is that splash screens and
Flash intros are almost extinct. They are so bad that even the
most clueless Web designers won’t recommend them, even though a
few (even more clueless) clients continue to request them.

Browser compatibility

This must be the most annoying task for a web designer. Although
a lot of browser incompatibility issues have been taken care in
past 2-3 years, but even now we see some minor disagreements
between the leading web browsers.

You like it or not, web users choose to browse web on the
browser of their choice. So rather than turning them away just
because they use a different platform, it is a must to design a
website that performs reasonable alike on major web browsers (IE
and Firefox for sure)

Form Pages

Try to keep your forms short and to the point. Big forms,
featuring too many unnecessary questions and options tend to
irritate a user. Try top cut all the questions that are really
not needed. For example, do you really to know the first and
last names in separate text boxes? Get your website analyzed for
FREE to know what additional functionalities can be added to it.
If you already know what functionality the web site requires,
request a FREE quote now to get a detailed proposal.

About the author:
Vikas Malhotra is an established Internet marketing consultant
having helped over 1000 businesses increase their visibility and
sales online. He is an online branding expert with experience in
design & development, affiliate marketing, online media
planning, buying and also search engine marketing. To learn
more, visit www.technology.mosaic-service.com.

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• Content Management System - July 5th, 2008
• Online Sales Model - July 5th, 2007
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• Choosing an Internet Home Business - July 5th, 2007