What's the Fastest Way to Ruin a New Web Site?
I've been asked, "How do I design a successful Web site?"
I often respond, "Do you know the fastest way to ruin a new Web
site design?" As you might suspect, the answer is, "Lack of
proper planning beforehand." Let's put it another way. In
programming, there's an old axiom, which states: "The sooner you
start your coding the longer it takes to finish."
Planning out your Web site before you build it is essential. To
borrow a technique from the film industry, I recommend that you
create a storyboard, which is a type of a flow chart of your new
Web site design. You don't have to be an accomplished artist to
draw out your idea, but it's essential to create it on paper
first.
On each piece of paper, the goal is to have room for an image at
the top, plus space underneath for writing down information. As
you might suspect, the first page to start with is your home (or
welcome) page, which will typically have the most information as
it will contain the page the people visit before they enter your
site and as people go through your site, the will encounter more
information (in tiers) as they go down.
Typically, the home page links to 5-15 pages below that, which
we could refer to as Tier 2. Each of those pages links to
another 5-15 pages, which you could call Tier 3. If you use all
of these pages, you'll wind up with an extensive Web site
design, of at least 226 pages (including the home page).
It's during this process that all sorts of problems will crop
up. But it's much easier to solve them on paper than in the
middle of coding rather than when you are finished.. If you
don't, you might run into a major problem along the way that
would require a "back to the drawing board" complete site
re-design.
Working things out on paper will give you a much better idea of
how things will work and how to fix problems. And, if you have
knowledgeable friends, get a second opinion.
Once you've completed the on-paper process, and you or your web
designer is satisfied with the results, you're ready to
translate it into code. Unless you or your programmer is a pro,
I would recommend using a "template". These are ready-made Web
site design formats. You can choose from several templates by
typing "template source" in most search engines. Many of them
are free.
Commonly Asked Questions Q: For a Web site, do I have to employ
a pro, or can I call the guidance counselor at my local high
school and ask for the names of some computer whiz kids that I
could call to help me out (for a fee)?
A: It really depends on what you want to do. If all you want is
1-2 pages , you can learn how to build the Web site yourself. If
it's an intensive site with many pages, I'd recommend student or
a pro (if you have the budget).
Q: I see a lot of photo-oriented web sites that have a black
background. Is this the best color to use?
A: Not necessarily. It's a matter of opinion and personal taste.
White can work just as well. I don't recommend the use of other
colors as they can compete with your images.
Q: Is "Flash" or audio acceptable?
A: If you absolutely need Flash to demonstrate an animation,
then by all means use it. If it's for a fancy trick, I recommend
leaving it out. It's similar with sound. Unless it adds to your
site, don't use it. And if you do use sound, give users an
option to turn it off. If you don't, you're likely to lose
visitors.