Web Tips

Courtesy of Jennifer Metzler of the Nebraska Business Development Center

I have compiled the following elements as a foundation for creating your own killer web site. After researching numerous web design and graphics books and spending countless hours perusing the web, I’ve come up with these fourteen elements to use as your guideline.

1. Create a consistent layout from page to page using a table as your grid or use Cascading Style Sheets.
2. Direct your readers eye.
3. Simplify the message.
4. Design an image navigational structure for movement around your site near the very top of each page with an additional text navigational structure near the bottom of each page.
5. Try to keep external links at the bottom of your pages or at the end of your site.
6. Limit vertical scrolling to three to four movements.
7. Never use horizontal scrolling.
8. Eliminate barriers (i.e., borders, frames, HR).
9. Background color should be pastels found in nature.
10. Use no more than two fonts; limit font sizes.
11. Limit images to under 25k per page for your low bandwidth users.
12. Limit vertical width of text and images from 475 to 525 pixels per inch and design for 800 x 600 monitor resolution.
13. Update and maintain your site regularly.
14. Check and recheck external links regularly.

Nebraska Business Development Center