This is an article that every Website Designer newbie should read. I think it is simple and has a couple of useful tips for web designer newbies.
In making your website, You must pay attention to the fundamental designs and details, to create a pleasant looking and yet optimally functional site. Several rules should be observed before it can qualify as a search engine friendly site.
1.Do not use flash intro or ezine subscribtion pop-ups
splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very flashy intro with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- unnecessary luxuries for your site. Do not let your visitors leave your slow loading website! Give them the information they need to know up front without the splash page. Opt-in list popup ads can be unwelcoming if you set it to load as soon as they enter your page. A discreet Opt-in form anywhere on the page can be a better way to get your visitors to join your mailing list. You can also set the popup for time-release so it deploys later.
2. Do not use too much banners
Even the least net savvy people have learned to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website space. Instead, provide more valuable content and insert affiliate links into it, and let your visitors decide if the product is good instead of being given an ultimatum to buy. Flashy banner ads do not account for most of the successful clicks like text ad links do.
3. Have a nice and presentable navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from fancy dropdown menus . If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4. Have a clear indication of where the user is
Try to provide a root map for menus and submenus, e.g. "You are here : F.A,Q". Visitors like being in control when browsing your site, because this gives them the ease to concentrate on what your site is about.
5. Avoid using video or audio on your site
Video and audio can help your marketing endeavor,if you use it wisely. If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your articles, you will want to make sure they're not distracted by an audio message looping on and on on your website. If you must add video or audio then, make sure they can adjust it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
Author of this article is Devan Kumar