Don't Let Your Site Fall Through the Cracks

So many new Internet sites are being created every day that no one can keep up with all of the latest designing trends. But here are some constant guidelines for those who want to create a good site on the World Wide Web.

A few things every good site should contain:
• easy navigation and clear content
• strong alignment of text and graphics
• consistency

Here are two sites that live up to these standards. First, the Pearl Harbor Memorial site, pearlharbormemorial.com, is an example of easy navigation and concise content. Viewers find themselves able to quickly skim the material and facts listed. Next, Tiffany and Company's web site portrays how a site should reflect the style of a business. Like the company, tiffany.com is simple, yet very elegant and sophisticated. It uses only a black and white color scheme with one accent color to add contrast. The site is clear and has a consistent layout.

Now it would be great if every web page was as eye-catching and as organized as the previous examples. Unfortunately, the Internet is far from perfect.

Things to watch out for:
• cluttered layouts and bad or boring color combinations
  (ex. gray backgrounds)
• too many large pictures
• annoying animations and side scrolls

Here are a couple of sites that didn't quite make the good list. At first glance, http://m.nu/eirinn/ceol is just a massive paragraph of Irish songs and lyrics. This page would be much more pleasing to the eye and a bit more organized if its links were separated and aligned properly. Next, windfieldcavaliers.com is a site that demonstrates annoying animations. It also contains too many big pictures which only add to the download time of the site and create frustration among viewers. Instead, thumbnails should be added so viewers have the option to see larger versions of pictures. Last but not least, side scrolls sneak in once again at howstuffworks.com. I'm sure you know how aggravating they are when you're surfing the Web, so when designing your page, please be courteous and leave side scrolling out of the picture.

Now you're a pro at designing award-winning layouts for the Web, right? Okay, maybe not yet. But at least you're a bit closer to making sure your website doesn't fall through the cracks!