Five Website Design Rules

Written by Adrian Pavone

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Today, more than ever, it is important to make sure that your website performs its purpose to its best. Extra attention should be paid to the smallest of details, because it is these that turn people off the most. The following five rules of thumb will make a significant difference to the perception of your website, and will ensure that your website performs well:

1) Never use a splash page

The first page that is seen when a user sees your website is the splash page. Normally, your splash page features a very beautiful image, and is often accompanied by words like “Welcome” or “Click here to enter”. The problem is, these pages serve no real purpose; they are like a vase that contains no roses. Presenting a splash page gives users a chance to click the back button before getting to the content of the site. And it is the content of the site, not the beautiful image, that will retain their interest. In short, give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Limit your banner advertisements

The problem with banner advertisements these days is the banner-blindness syndrome. This syndrome has been recognised since at least 1998, and is detailed here. To summarise the link, even the most technically limited users of the internet have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements. Placing banner advertisements therefore merely wastes valuable web page real estate. It is much more valuable and rewarding to provide valuable content and intermix your relevant affiliate links into your content. This lets your visitors decide for themselves that they want to buy your product and doesn’t feel like they are being pushed to buy.

3) Make sure your navigation system is clear and simple

Given the complexity of websites these days, it is important to provide a navigation menu system that is both simple and very straightforward. Even a young child or old grandparent should be able to know how to use it at a moments investigation. Avoid flash based menus which add complexity and have all the issues of flash besides, and unless it is very clear, avoid multi-tiered dropdown menus. As any number of studies have shown, when users can’t figure out how to navigate your site, they will leave and not return.

4) Display a clear indicator of where the user is on the site

If you can provide a way that the user can see where they are in the site, either through a breadcrumbs approach, or by highlighting the currently active menu item, they will be able to browse relevant information and navigate to any section of the site easily. As mentioned in the previous point, if a user is confused by your site, they will “abandon ship”!

5) Try not to use audio on your site

Audio files that repetitively loop on your site will annoy users that are going to be on your site for a long time reading your content. If you do have audio streaming, at least make sure that the users have some control over it, such as a volume, mute or pause button.