Web Developer

Developing Web Pages

Printer Friendly PageAs in Web Site development, best practices exist with regard to the individual pages that make up a web site.  While there are no strict rules about designing pages, there are some guidelines you can follow to create web pages that work well and look good.

Web page design closely follows web site design.  You must determine your primary audience, choose which information to include in your message, and then present that information in a meaningful way.  Sounds simple enough!  Following are some guidelines to make the delivery of content as easy as possible.  This is not an exhaustive list but it is a good start.

Understand the Medium

Many times, developers forget that they have targeted a medium unlike any other: the Web.  Rather they choose to present information as if it were appearing in a newspaper, magazine, brochure, or other printed form.  As a result, the pages they design look great - on paper.  Unfortunately, they don't live on paper - and far more people will view them on a computer screen than will print them.  Here are a few things to consider when targeting the web:

Using Links

Links are what made the Internet into the World Wide Web.  They provide a way for users to navigate to any document located anywhere on the network.  Unfortunately, links can be confusing to viewers if you are not careful about how you use and design them.

Using Images

Images fall into the category of multimedia and therefore are a two edged sword.  Inventive use of images can set your site apart from others.  Images, however, can be large files.  And if you base much of your site's structure on complicated images, users will surf elsewhere instead of waiting for your images to download.

Other Good Habits

Here is a short list of things that are somewhat self explanatory.  They make sense and you should try to get in the habit of making them part of your design routine.

 

Well that's a short introduction to some of the things to consider before you design your pages.  Take them to heart - or discard them - it's entirely up to you when you design your home on the web.  As Bob Ross used to say: "It's your world, you make the decisions."