Web Design- viewpoints

b.han wrote in post #9352828
Personally, I think that the site looks a tad boring because the text makes it look cluttered. I think you should experiment with different font sizes. Using different font sizes helps the viewers distinguish between different types of text where it be the title, navigation, comment, contact information, caption, or actual context.

obnoxiousmom wrote in post #9352838
Because Microsoft expression web writes all code for me there isnt a lot of understanding when it comes to CSS etc. Ive been trying to watch tutorials

Karl Johnston wrote in post #9377540
I seem to get wicked SEO lately..I found out that I can put in meta-data into each of my pictures so I've been keywording like mad.

Jay Jay wrote in post #9379095
I would highly recommend you add your header/footer to your portfolio section. Once I'm on that page I have no way of getting back to contact you without hitting back a bunch of times. Also, if someone finds a portfolio page on the web through say Google, they won't know your name/contact info/ etc without stripping off your pages and going to your domain.

Faolan wrote in post #7452280
This is a little FAQ sheet of elements I frequently post about when critiquing other sites. I've had a few PMs and Emails asking what I'm looking for when critiquing or why I'm harsh about it.

I'm harsh because I believe in being honest, but also a person who has a web site is that persons reputation. If you don’t understand Web Design or you want to learn it then find someone who does understand it. If you don’t want to spend the time then pay/trade with a professional to do one for you.

Remember a site design is about your image. It’s your online portfolio, business card and your reputation. A person will judge you on your site and quality of work. There's nothing worse than seeing some outstanding images being showcased in a site that looks like it's been dragged from the 90's.

Spend the time understanding what makes a good website, look at the professional sites and consider the elements that make up the site not just the whole.

When designing a site you have to factor in:

1) Who’s your intended audience?
2) What the demographics of your audience (what browser, abilities, screen resolution, connection speed and so on).
3) The branding of your company.
4) What media are you targeting? Things like mobiles devices, desktop computers, Games consoles.
5) What technologies do you want to use and more importantly why do you need to use them?

Most issues I see with websites are that they lack a clear and concise layout. Most are slapped together and it shows. Many lack forethought in design principles let alone deprecated coding standards. There is a key term in Web Design and that’s Well-Formedness. This means that all your code is clean, complies with the accepted standards (such as W3C) and is system agnostic.

Even with Template based sites you need to take care in customising it for your business otherwise it will look like any other on the web diluting your brand and image. Also understanding how the template works is also essential and having a basic understanding of underlying code and what it does is important otherwise you may end up breaking the site layout or worse make it impossible for a browser to render. Also you need to make sure the code of the template is properly formatted which many of the older or cheaper ones aren’t.

Common issues that I see:

Tables – Tables should be used for tabular data not for sites. In the early days Tables was used for sites and layouts because it was quick and easy. However it’s harder to maintain a table based site and it takes longer to process the pages.

These days it’s better and more efficient to lay out a site using Layers and CSS. Whilst it can be more difficult in the short term to build such a site the rewards down the line are worth the pain.

A pure CSS based site gives you the ability to change the whole site with one style sheet making updates easier and faster. In addition making changes to the site is a lot easier as there is far less code on a page.

Flash – This is one of the most abused pieces of technology on the ‘Net. People will build complete sites or embed Flash content incorrectly into a site.

The main problem with Flash is that it’s not search engine friendly, meaning to get your website noticed is significantly harder. The other big issue is that it’s not well supported on other devices such as Smart Phones, Pocket PCs and so on.

Amendment - Flash can be made SEO but it's got to be done as part of the design process and by it's nature not as intuitive as a pure HTML site.

Flash does have a place in web design for instance delivering dynamic content such as galleries, animation and also video streaming.

Colours – Colours on a web site should reflect your company branding and colour scheme. The design should also reflect your company image. However if you’re displaying photographs you should consider how to balance this. Most websites will have a base colour of black, grey or white for neutrality. Also I see text often with little or no contrast making it impossible for people who have poor vision to read the text.

Navigation – The heart of your website. A lot of sites I see have navigation in non-intuitive locations particularly in Flash based sites. Step back and consider what areas need to be readily accessible to a visitor. Normally you will have 3-4 key areas Home, Content, Contact and About. You may have more or less sections as needed but these should always be easily found on a site.

Load times – More about Flash than HTML but HTML based sites do and can suffer from this. People will only wait around 3-5 seconds for a site to load and they want information at their finger tips. They don’t want to see a landing page. Most people will associate that with the thought of the site not being ready. You want to give them a reason to stay.

Code – The biggest flaw of HTML based sites is the poor quality of code. Most coding I see doesn’t have a DocType, properly formatted code so that it’s legible or the CSS and HTML properly separated and used. In addition most sites don’t always display properly when viewed in alternative browsers such as Opera, Safari, Firefox and other browsers.

Contact forms – An area that suffers from a lack of understanding even today people still use a mailto tag because it’s easier than trying to lay out a form for a client. However this has some major drawbacks in that people may not have access to a email client or that they have blocked the mailto: tag due to security considerations.

Also using a mailto tag will leave that address open to Spammers who trawl the ‘Net for these.

Marquee text - Don't, just don't. People's eyes are drawn to movement. It's instinctive. If you have moving text people won't be paying attention to your content. By all means use movement on your site if it enhances or adds to your content.

Content - On your site make sure you tell your visitor who you are, what you do and how you do it. A lot of photographers rely on their work to sell them that may work in some instances but what if a person is in say Canada and you're 2000 miles away?