Basic Website Design

When designing a website, follow these basic tips:

 

Page Layout

When visitors come to your website, they will expect to easily find the information they seek. In order to make your website easy to navigate, follow these basic principles of layout:

• Keep the design consistent for every page
• Place navigation bars and buttons at the top and/ or on the left of every page (for U.S. websites)
• Place the logo and site name in the same location on every web page (usually the top left corner)
• Place an informative title at the top of each web page
• Use pictures and graphics that load quickly
• Use appropriate and relevant graphics and images
• Do not use excessive images
• Use adequate white space

 

Colors

If you use unnatural colors or color combinations, your readers may have a difficult time reading your information. To ensure your readers can easily read your website,

• Use contrasting colors
• Do not use light text on a dark background (if you can avoid it)
• Do not use a patterned background behind text
• Do not use unnatural colors or pairings that are hard on the eyes

 

Content

Your readers want to find the information easily, so you should develop your content to make it accessible to your reader. The following guidelines will help you create easy-to-read content:

• Arrange information into readable chunks of text (or paragraphs) because text-dense websites are difficult to read and to navigate
• Use simple bullets for lists
• Highlight and hyperlink key words
• Use as few words as possible to clearly convey your message
• Use simple sentence structures (clear actors and action verbs)
• Avoid abbreviations or technical terms (unless you clearly explain them)
• Do not use all capital letters for any word
• Use underlining only for hyperlinks
• Make information easy to understand on an international scale
• Avoid using clichés, jargon, or cultural idioms
• Use clear language that translates easily

 

Headings

You can use headings and subheadings to separate information and make it easy for your readers to understand. Follow these guidelines to make effective headings:

• Change the font weight, size, and color for heading levels
• Make the headings reflect the content that follows
• Use key words or phrases
• Keep them short
• Keep headings grammatically parallel

 

Body Text

The bulk of your website content will be text. Follow these guidelines to make it as easy to read as possible:

• Use a sans serif font for websites
  Arial
  Tahoma
  Verdana
  Trebuchet

• Do not use flashy fonts
  Brush Script
  Comic Sans
  Bradley Hand
  Lucida Handwriting
  Tempus Sans
  Papyrus

 

 

Click here to download a PDF version of this page.