Simplifying the Web
July 10, 2008The Internet is huge. There are an estimated 60 to 70 million websites online and that number is growing everyday. The majority of these sites are not designed with the goal of making it easy to find information and most just frustrate users until they give up or find another resource that’s easier to use. So why is this? Why, when the main purpose of the Internet is to make information available at your finger tips, are sites so bad at doing just that? The answer is not as clear cut as you may think, but there are some obvious pitfalls that designers and webmasters fall in to when publishing sites on the Internet.
- Remember, you’re not designing for yourself you’re designing for your users. You may think the cool background music playing when your page loads is great, but I guarantee your visitors are annoyed.
- Less is always more. Use less images, less media and less screen real estate. Make your content the focus and forget about the rest.
- Use valid markup and semantic tags. Learn about what’s going on underneath the hood of your site—knowing how the machines see your information will help you understand how to make it better.
- Pay attention to the experience of using your site. Is content easy to find? Can you link to a particular post or page? Is the navigation clear and simple to use? Some of the most basic aspects of good web design are often overlooked.
This is by no means a complete list, but should be looked at as more of a starting point when building or redesigning a site. Lets bring simplicity back to the Web and take a closer look at the Text in HTML. In a world where everyone can have a website and everyone has something to say, how are you going to make your content stand out and easy to find?