Consistency Across Your Website
One of the mistakes I frequently see in "professional" websites
is a lack of consistency across the entire website. Different
pages might be laid out slightly different, or they might have
different background images. In extreme cases, I can't even tell
if I'm on the same website, aside from looking at the actual
address of the site.
This lack of consistency across the site shows a lack of
professionalism. Even if all your other business material is
extremely professional, a website with that problem can bring
your whole business down. Potential clients who look at it will
have a lesser opinion of your business as a whole.
There are several things that should be the same across all of
your site.
- Layout - The menu should be in the same place on every page,
as should things like the header and the main text of the page.
- Background - This includes color and/or image.
- Menu - The actual order of the menu should be the same on
every page.
- Colors - Links and text should be the same colors. That is, if
all your menu links are white, the menu links on every page
should be white. If all your main text links are blue even
though your menu links are white, that's fine, but each page
should be the same.
- Header Image - This should be exactly the same on every page.
- Width - You should not set one page on your site up to be 760
pixels wide, and another 100% wide. They should all be the same.
Modifying these simple items can create greatly increase the
professionalism of your site.