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Planning
your site
Getting
started
Ten
things to keep in mind when designing your Web site
Ten
things your visitors might not appreciate
Ten things your visitors MIGHT NOT thank you
for:
- Loading
your site down with graphics and nesting your tables eighteen
levels deep so the viewer has time to get that cup of coffee they've
been wanting while it loads.
- Making
sure that when it does load, your site has so many pretty pictures,
your visitor won't want to bother reading the text. Then again,
who needs text anyway?
- Assuming
the viewer wants a multimedia experience, including music, lots
of animated gifs and every other novelty you can find. They'll
not only draw the attention of the people in the surrounding cubicles
at work or wake the people sleeping in the next room, and slow
down load times, they'll keep your viewers so occupied installing
plug-ins and media players they don't have, they'll be sure to
describe your site to others as "an interesting experience." They
won't be coming back for more, however.
- Offering
the viewer a challenge by using light text on a light background,
dark text on a dark background or any text on a busy background.
The viewer's eyes will get some much-needed exercise as she struggles
to read your wonderful words.
- Giving
them frames--everybody loves frames; they really love them when
the next page they view opens in that teensy frame.
- Using
a cheap or free site, so you can be sure the viewer will be bombarded
with lots of interesting popup boxes, distracting banners, etc.
- Hiding
the good stuff. Putting your links at the bottom of a twenty-inch
scroll. Everybody likes a treasure hunt.
- Making
the viewer drill down five screens before you tell them what they
want to know. The harder you have to work to get the information
you want, the more valuable it is, right?
- Sparing
the public the necessity of contacting you by providing no way
to do it.
- Letting
your viewer feel superior by making sure you include a few grammar
errors or spelling mistakes for them to find. It's guaranteed
to let them know you they can trust you to tell a story they're
going to want to read!
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