8 Things to Think About When Creating a Website

8 Things to Think About When Creating a Website

7:48 PM

The Internet Today

The internet is an ever-growing entity, new web pages and content are created every minute. Almost every reputable business has its own website and a rapidly increasing number of people have their own personal websites or blogs. When you hear about a new company, one of the first things you will do is look up their website to get a feel of what they do and how they work. For both businesses and individuals a webpage is an opportunity to give a good first impression. A website that is poorly designed, badly maintained and generally difficult to use has the power to put off potential users and customers. In contrast a good website can attract customers and can make visitors want to return. How you design and put together your website, therefore, is hugely important. Here are eight things that you should think about when creating a website.

1. Content

A key aspect of any website is the content. You can have a swish website with various bells and whistles, but if there is no good content to back it up, visitors will be unlikely to return – or even stay on the site for very long. Content needs to be useful and engaging. Why are people coming to your site? What information do they want to know? Updating regularly is also important. A quick way to give a bad first impression is to have a languishing news section or blog that hasn’t been updated in months – or years! It makes visitors wonder whether you are still writing or whether a company is still running. Many search engines are also moving towards evaluating sites based on content, rather than just links and title tags. Good, regularly updated content will not only resonate with your readers but can help to improve the visibility of your site.

2. Colour Scheme

Arguably a more fun part of creating a website is choosing how it should look. If content creation is stocking the shelves, then website design is decorating the shop and choosing the window display. Colours and colour schemes are an important facet of web design. You should always take into account that your users will be looking at your site on a screen, what works well in print may not have the same effect on a screen. Don’t use too much white space that your site feels empty, or too little that your website feels cramped. Overusing fluorescent or bright colours can be hard on the eyes. Background colours should not clash with the text colour. Dark blue text on a black background and light grey or yellow text on a white background are very difficult to read and should generally be avoided. Choose complementary colours that work well together. If you are unsure, there are many websites that will generate colour schemes and swatches for you.

3. Fonts

The subject of fonts can be very divisive and affected by personal preference. People can get very worked up about fonts – especially when it comes to Comic Sans! You may like the Jokerman font but you will need to think about whether it is a. readable and b. appropriate. Serif fonts, like Times New Roman, look good on a printed page but don’t have quite the same effect on a website. Sans Serif fonts like Helvetica or Arial look better and are generally easier to read on a screen. Choosing an appropriate font is also key. Comic Sans is a fun font to use for personal projects like a birthday party invite, but when used on a business website it can instantly add an air of unprofessionalism and amateurism. Don’t use lots of different fonts and sizes on one page as it can look messy.

4. Layout

The layout of a website should be simple and should make sense. Most common website layout principles are often used because they work well. The logo of company will usually be found in the top left corner of a website and a search bar (if there is one) is often located in the top right. A grid layout looks organised and clean, anything asymmetrical (unless you know what you are doing) can make your website look wonky and unbalanced. Don’t over-clutter your website as this can make it difficult to use. In addition don’t go overboard with the size of your webpages so that they are too wide for the average screen size. Many people find horizontal scrolling irritating.

5. Navigation

Linked to considerations about layout is the navigation of your website. It is the ‘map’ or ‘directions’ for your website that helps users find where they need to go and the information they want. Keep your navigation links together, in a sidebar for example, rather than placing them randomly throughout the homepage text. Utilise ‘breadcrumbs’ so that users can keep track of their location and find their way back to the homepage or previous pages if they need to. Links should be labelled so that it is obvious where they lead. Website users will often scan a page to find the links to the information they need, help them do this by signposting your content. Use headings and titles and don’t fill your pages with walls of text.

6. Accessibility

The way people are looking at websites is changing, people are no longer simply look at sites on their home computer or laptop. More people than ever are accessing the internet while they are on the move and on newer forms of technology such as smartphones and tablets. If your website does not work or does not load properly on a mobile device you can potentially be losing visitors as a result. Responsive web design, which adapts to the screen size of the device, is becoming more popular while other websites choose to have a separate mobile version of their website. Accessibility does not just apply to mobile devices, it can refer to how easy it is in general to access a website. Long loading times, splash-pages and auto-playing videos can be hugely off-putting to new visitors.

7. Media

Media can greatly enhance a user’s website experience. Well-placed images and videos can improve the look, feel and functionality of a website. You should, however, resist the temptation to overload your site with imagery, graphics and videos. Using too much media can slow down your website making it sluggish to use. Videos that auto-play can irritate users, especially if there is no way to mute or stop them. Try to move away from using too much Flash on your website. Flash does not work on many mobile devices and can reduce the usability of your site. Equally search engines often find it problematic to index a website that is built entirely out of Flash. It can make it appear to search engines that there is little content on the website and can lead to demotion in the search engine results.
Source: Image by Sachyn

8. Professional Services

Finally, you should think about whether you have the know-how to design and create a website yourself. There can be a huge amount of things to think about and it can require high levels of skill and experience. A professional web design company can take the hassle out of website design and will be able to come up with a design that looks good and fits how you want it to look. You will be able to give your opinion and input but you will also be able to benefit from the expertise of the web design company. You may have the skills to create a website yourself but for many using a professional web design company is a useful option.
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