Technical website design considerations
There are several technical issues to consider when designing your website.
Browsers
You will have to have a website that can be displayed by many different browsers. Common browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator and Opera.
You should test your web pages in as many browsers as possible during the development process to ensure that they will display properly. You should also aim to ensure that your web pages work in previous versions of the browsers, as some of your audience may not have updated their software.
Screen resolutions
The most common resolutions, expressed in "pixels", are 640 x 480, 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768. If you opt to design your website based upon the higher resolution, then you need to be aware that some screens with lower resolutions may not display all of the content. You cannot control the screen resolution of the monitors used to view your website.
Download speeds
Not all Internet users have high speed access, so connection speed should also influence your web page design. Try to keep your website simple and deliver your message without loading your website too much with graphics. All graphics should be optimised to load as fast as possible. If you have the same image repeated through your website set it up to be loaded once and viewed many.
Designing the Website
When designing your website, plan a theme and structure that will hold all the pages together. You should convey an image of good basic operational functionality, neatness, and a professional appearance.
Visual aspects of the Website
Create a common theme of colours, fonts, graphics and page layouts. Remember that this can be achieved without the need for spectacular graphics - simplicity and elegance can be more effective.
Consistency
Plan to create a unified look for the various sections and pages of your site, so that the users are aware that they are moving around within a single site as they move from page to page.
Create smooth transitions from one page to another by having consistent elements on each page and repeating colours and fonts, for example:
- placing navigational elements in the same position on each page
- having a consistent background texture to each page
- using fonts and colours consistently throughout the site
All of this will help to reinforce the identity of the site.
White space
Don't be afraid to use white space or blank areas in your web-page design. Good use of white space can help define areas of your page and can be used to structure and separate content.
A lack of white space can give the impression that the page has too much content and can confuse the user.
Branding
The brand and image of your business should be reinforced by your website. Consistent use of your company logo throughout the site will help in this, and should be viewed as an element of your overall marketing strategy.
