Developing and designing a website entails knowing and utilising many vital aspects. It doesn’t really matter how proficient an individual is at developing websites, or in fact how many websites they have developed or created in the past, there will be occasions when a slip-up occurs, and these can prove to be very costly indeed. And mistakes need to be avoided in today’s very competitive world. For developers trying to avoid making the odd mistake, there are a few things to be wary of.
The very first thing to be cautious of is using free web hosts. Quite apart from the fact that a user of this sort of hosting will not be able to have their own unique URL, they will also have to put up with obligatory adverts placed on their sites by the hosts. This will mean any potential visitors to the site could get easily distracted and click away.
Another major consideration to take on board is the fact that all visitors to a site will expect easy navigation as a matter of course as well as a not “to-in-your-face” homepage. Some splash pages have this affect as they take time to load due to their heavy use of graphics and images. Slow loading pages are definitely a turn-off for visitors and it won’t be long before they are clicking out of the site. The same would ring true for using flash animation; although it definitely has its uses, keeping it to the minimum and where absolutely necessary will help the sites webpage’s load faster.
Placing links on a website must also be done with care. They have to be checked to make sure they open properly and don’t just end up on an error page somewhere. The most frustrating thing for a visitor to a site to do is open a link that doesn’t lead them to where they thought it would. Not exactly conducive to visitor satisfaction! It can also give the site in question a bad reputation.
Something else that can be very distracting to the discerning visitor is pop-ups. Some visitors to sites do not take kindly to having their quiet read or browse interrupted by an annoying pop-up. Ideally from a web developers stand point, pop-up’s should be used very sparingly and only when and where absolutely necessary.
Some website designers and developers also make the mistake of trying to utilise colours that are either contrasting or just don’t mix well at all. This rings true for the text font and size as well. Text that is too small will make it difficult for visitors to read. Conversely, text that is too big may cause the site to have horizontal scroll bars, again making it difficult for a visitor to read.
To create a great website, developers have to take all aspects used in the creation of the site into consideration. By following some of the tips listed above, a budding developer will be well on their way to creating a great site.