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1. A picture file is usually big is size.
However pictures are important as they enhance the look of the
page. But it is not a good idea to fill your web pages with
loads of images. Till today many people across the world use
dial-up connections. The average time taken for a page to
download should not be more than 5-10 seconds. If it does take
longer the surfer might go away to your competitor’s site. To
keep on your site all the images must download if the smallest
amount of time. You must also remember to keep the aggregate
page size less than 30k. Remember that each file on the page
requires a separate HTTP request link to the server. So, even if
you have a lot of small images on your
professional web site design it will take a
long time to download. Modern browsers offer users a choice to
turn off images. This gives an idea of how troublesome those
extra, unnecessary images could be.
2. Think twice before using images for navigation purposes. An
average user will be comfortable with easy navigation. The users
will not spend time to look at those fantastic & truly artistic
navigation buttons that may take hours to design. They may just
look at it for a moment, but will not give it any more
importance. They will be looked at in the same way as a simple
text navigation link. Even if you do include those fancy
buttons, do provide an Alternate Text for each image that you
use for navigation. ALT text can help such users immensely. Make
your professional web site design page load faster by providing
information to the browser regarding the height and width of the
image. If you don’t provide this, then the page will take longer
to download because the browser will not know the dimensions of
the image and therefore will not know how much space to leave
for the images.
3. Don’t let your aesthetic sense over taken your common sense.
Please do not let your artistic excellence affect the
navigability & functionality of your web site. An average user
gives more importance to easy-to-understand navigation links
than to a creative piece of art. It is of no use making your
professional web site design artistic if users
are having to tough time navigating around it. Such ‘beautiful’
sites do exist, where the users reach the main page but then
have no clue where they want to go. It is also possible that
unless you move the mouse over the picture, you have no idea
where the link will take you. This will annoy the surfers
because unless they move their mouse all over site, they will
not know which a link is and which is not. Avoid this and save
your site from becoming wasted time and space.
4. If your web page is created within a table, then it will not
show until the full table is downloaded. You might have
experienced this, when for some time nothing is visible and then
suddenly the entire page appears. This causes a delay to the
user and he might get impatient and click away to another site.
To avoid upsetting the user in this way, the table should be
split up into two or more parts and put one below the other. Let
the first table consist only the page header and a few
navigational links. As this will download quickly and first, it
will attract the users attention and keep him on the site, while
he waits for the remainder of the page to load. This will stop
him from leaving your site. This method helps especially is
there is a slow Internet connection.
5. Avoid browser specific functions. If a certain feature is
presented and supported by one browser then as a result of
browser wars, may not be supported by another browser. If there
is no way out and you have to use browser specific functions, be
positive that it does not hinder the display of the page in
another browser, one which does not support such functionality.
To put in simply, if the display of your
professional web site
design deteriorates, make sure it does so gradually and
gracefully. Even then the web page should be viewable.
6. As much as you can, give the user the freedom to create a new
browser window. Do not curb his freedom by adding too many
pop-ups, as it will clutter the users screen. All links should
open in the same window by default. However, a
professional web site design page is an
exception. In this case, it is convenient to open links in
another window, so that the user can come back to the links page
easily. It is advisable to give a prior notice to users when a
link will open in another window.
7. Avoid fonts that are not so common with people. There are
many fonts that are difficult to get and find. Using them may
enhance your web page, but you still have to avoid them. You
have to keep all your users happy. You may use a fancy font,
which is not in the users’ computer. The font may well appear as
old Times New Roman or Arial on your user's machine. And you
cannot do anything to rectify the situation at that point in
time. For all you know they could be visiting your site from
across the globe. To be on the safe side, you should always use
common fonts like Times Roman, Arial and Courier etc.
8. You may want to use a functional navigational bar that guides
you across all the ways within your
professional web site design. The use of this
bar is becoming increasingly popular. With this bar the users
can visit just about any other page on your website, while
keeping them aware for their location.
9. To ensure easy accessibility of your
professional web site design page, avoid the
use of too many ‘plug-ins’. In recent times the ‘revolutionary
plug-in’ has come up and a lot of web designers are spicing up
their websites using them. But this plug-ins is not very
well-liked among the Internet users and many don’t even get them
installed, even if they are available as free downloads. They
would rather go to another website. The most popular sites like
Google don’t use plug-ins. However, if you must use them, then
use commonly used plug-ins like Shockwave Flash plug-in, which
has now made its way onto most computers today. Hence, you may
use it to place some animation on your site.
10. The final frontier is Java. Java technology is one of the
most misused technologies in web design. The real use of Java is
as a programming language. However Java’s adaptability makes
many web designers to use it as a graphic front-end for images
on the
professional
website. There are a variety of things you can
do with Java as far as web design is concerned, but it is not
sensible to do all of them. Java applets usually run slower, due
to which users might experience slowness in performance,
particularly when it comes to downloading. These applets have
also been known to crash browsers. So, while using Java be
careful and use it only where necessary.
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