The Low Cost Web site Design Secrets series continues. You’ll always be able to click the link to the entire series below.

Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 15 :
More search engine friendly design tips

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Picking up from yesterday, here are some more search engine issues you should take care of during the design phase.

Why during the design of your site? Well, someone is already accessing the HTML code of your site to make your pages appealing to the eye and to the general visitor. They might as well have the additional tweaks in mind that will bring search engine visitors specifically.

In addition to choosing and using keywords wisely, you’ll also want to be sure to get links back to your site. The best links are one-way links from authority sites, but that isn’t always possible. You can also get links from article marketing, directories, a few of the minor and specialty search engines, press releases and link trading.

Be careful with trading links. The volume of links you would need to get to make a difference, versus the fewer number of high quality one-way links, means that for most commercial sites, you should exhaust all possibilities with every other type of linking first.

Another important part of being ranked in the search engines is sticking to one theme. It’s folly to sell chocolate chip cookies and granola bars from the same site if those are your only two specialties. If you have a wider variety that all fits under the umbrella “snack food” then that is what you should target. But as soon as you have more than one theme that isn’t closely related to the first one, you should have more than one site.

In part three of this discussion on search engines and design, we’ll wrap up this mini-set of tips.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 14:
Consider proper targeting and placement of keywords during the design phase

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In this day and age, simply having a page with the right amount of keywords in the right places isn’t necessarily enough to get traffic to your site from search engines, but there are still a few basic things you can include when designing pages that will help.

Choose your keywords very carefully. This is the foundation of your search engine marketing plan. Don’t just shoot for the top keyword. It probably has the most competition and the least amount of sticky traffic. Instead, find out that is a good balance between ease of ranking and flow of visitors.

It’s better to rank number 8 for a low traffic term than on page 100 for a high traffic term.

You want to use a keyword rich title. It’s better if your title starts with your keywords and ends with your company name than vice versa.

Also use your keywords throughout your text copy – the search engines are less likely to rank your site for a term it doesn’t use. However, don’t go overboard. A good rule of thumb is to be sure the page sounds like normal speech when read aloud.

We’ll have more non-keyword related tips in the next installment.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 13:
Remember the basic elements of a readable page

Even though most people skim the web as opposed to reading it, you’ll want to know and use these tips to make your page more readable.

1. Use attractive fonts
2. Use fonts that are easy to read on every browser
3. Keep paragraphs short
4. Use lists, especially bulleted or numbered, when you can
5. Use simple language
6. Use headers throughout the page, not just at the top

There are more items to keep in mind, but those are the basics. Fill out the question form using the link below, if you want to know whether a specific page at your site is readable.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number 12:
Incorporate white space

White space (also referred to as whitespace) is the area of a page that contains no text or graphics, i.e. the space between the objects on the page. It’s not always technically white, of course. If the background of a page is off-white or cream, the portion of the page that is uncovered is still white space.

The essential thing to know is that the proper use of whitespace heightens readability. Good placement of white space throughout a page is actually a part of good design. It also makes the web page easier on the eyes, which has its part in making visitors stay longer.

Be sure to use the RSS links to your right to subscribe before you go – you won’t want to miss the rest of this free design secrets series.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number :
Learn the proper use of contrast.

Wikipedia defines contrast as follows:

In visual perception, contrast is the difference in visual properties that makes an object (or its representation in an image) distinguishable from other objects and the background.

Many mistakes are made in contrast with web design. One thing to look out for is to make sure that in all browsers, your text is about the same difference in shade from the colour of the background.

You’ll want to use text that stands out from the background, bold text occasionally and no more than three fonts, Don’ts include, using a dark coloured font against a dark background, and lack of white space.

You might also think about using contrasting colours – just be sure they dont clash.

We’ll talk next about the use of white space.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number Ten :
Pick Colour Combintations that are Aligned with Your Company Message

If your company is conservative or oriented towards big comporations, it’s not wise to pick colour sets that convey a young, hip, image. You do so much hard work (or pay so much money) to get visitors to show up at your site. You don’t want to then drive them away when they arrive.

Using bright red and bright blue on your Web site is never a good idea, no matter who your target market is. Trying to focus on both bright colours will strain the eye.

A popular colour combination found on Web sites nowadays is a blue-and-white combination or different shades of blue. Blue represents peace, calmness and stability. People trust blue Web sites more. Using blue text will make people retain more information from your site. If you wish to convey royalty and elegance, use a combination of blue, purple, and white. See colour combinations for Web sites for more sample colour sets.

Visitors to your Web site form their first impression about your Web site within the few seconds. The right use of colour can make a visitor feel welcome, relaxed and comfortable – just like an inviting comfortable home. So, use colours effectively to draw your customers in and entice them to buy your product or service. Offline, people buy when they are comfortable and relaxed, and given a choice between merchants that make them nervous, and ones that make them feel at home, they’ll pick the latter, all other things being equal.

The same is true online.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number Nine:
Choose Your Colours Wisely

Yesterday we went over what to think about before you choose your colours, in order to make choices that convey the meaning you’d like to put across. Now we’re going to talk about specific colours and what meanings they convey, to help you decide on a colour scheme for your site. In the next part, I’ll tell you where you can see a sample of colours set you may want to use for your site.

Colours and their significance

• Red indicates danger. It stimulates the mind and raises blood pressure. Las Vegas is the city of red neon lights as it makes people gamble and take risks under the red lights. People working in a red environment work faster but they make more mistakes.

• Blue is associated with peace and relaxation. Blues complement cool and pastel colours

• Black is considered a heavy and depressing colour. Use of black as the dominant colour should be carefully considered.

• Brown conveys stability, simplicity, and comfort. It can be considered a drab colour as well.

• Green is easy on the eye; it has a calming effect. It is popular in hospitals

• Gray is a very conservative colour and conveys practicality, reliability and responsibility.

• Pink is considered a feminine colour.

• Purple conveys spirituality, royalty and mystery.

• Orange is a warm colour. Used in small amounts, it can make a site interesting and fun.

• Yellow is an eye-catching and cheerful colour.

• White is the colour of purity and cleanliness.

Keep these underlying colour associations in mind when you choose yours. Next, we’ll discuss specific combinations that go well together for web sites.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number Eight:
Understand how colour affects communication

The colours you use on your site can help you convey subtle meanings. How does colour affect us? Colours can portray positive or negative feelings. They affect our mood and will have an effect on our visitors as well because certain colours stir up certain emotions in our brains.

Warm and Cool Colours

Colours are either warm or cool. Orange, yellow and brown are warm colours. These colours are usually associated with fall. Warm colours convey cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Cool colours such as green, blue, pink and purple are peaceful and relaxing. They are more popular than warm colours.

The Use of Colours

You should choose colours based upon the type of effect you’d like to achieve. Here are some tips on choosing your overall colour scheme. In the next post, we’ll get into more specifics.

• Once you have chosen the colours for your site, use the same colours consistently throughout your site.
• Avoid using too many colours on your site as this will make your site look busy and confusing. Never use more colours than are necessary.
• Use light colours for backgrounds and darker colours for foreground text.
• Avoid using more than one dominant colour.
• Make sure the choice of colours for a site fits the intended content and the users’ expectations.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number Seven :
Faster Loading Pages

You only have a few seconds to get your web visitors attention. You’ve done this yourself – you’ve clicked on a link that has text which really interested you. You’re used to a certain amount of wait time, but if the page goes outside the time you’re used to waiting, you’ll click over to something else.

Web surfing is an intuitive procedure. As such, there are certain habits we all get into. We don’t care that ten years ago, we might be standing in line at a library, or a bookstore, or at a seminar, trying to access this same information. All we know that now, we expect to get it within seconds.

Therefore, knowing this, it’s your job to get your information to appear as quickly as possible – you need faster loading pages.

One way you can make your pages load faster, is to minimize the number and size of graphics on your pages. The default setting of a standard browser is constructed to load at most, four images at once. Also, smaller images don’t take as long to load. Of course, if you’ve already managed these two items, and you still can’t figure out why your pages won’t load faster, you probably need to ask a web site designer for help.

Nina

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Low Cost Web Site Design Secret Number Six:
Create Consistency

Your website visitors need to know how to get around, how to get back where they came from, and they also need to have cues that let them know when they’re still in your site and when they have left it.

Yes, it seems obvious, but as websites change over time and are updated, they have a tendency to lose consistency, unless it is part of the on-going plan. Here are some tips to make sure your site design stays consistent.

Use a consistent design for all pages on your site. The colours should be pleasing and the same colour scheme should be used throughout the site. Having a complex and confusing site will make people go away.

Also, use a consistent layout across your site. Having a consistent look on your site will eliminate confusion.

Have you been to a website only to find it hard to navigate? Many visitors find it difficult to locate information. Therefore, a lot of time is wasted trying to find the information visitors are looking for.

Navigation tells us at a glance about the contents of the site. It tells us how to use the site.

Once visitors arrive at your website, they should be able to navigate it easily without searching.

Menus/navigation bars should be in the same place on every page. Remember the three-click rule. Visitors should never be more than three-clicks away from the information they’re looking for. Make it easy for visitors to navigate by using simple and intuitive navigation.

You can create a professional presence by having a clear and simple navigation system.

Nina

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