Elements of A Web Site

What can you put on a Web site? Here's a look at the design and content elements you have at your disposal along with some tips on using them.

The Look and Feel

What do you want your site to look like? While this is not really an element, it is worth considering. A Web site can look like a newspaper or a coloring book. It can have an artsy theme or a formal,business look. You can put some personality into the writing or just give them the facts. Of course, this relates closely to the audience you want to reach and your purpose. A manufacturer of large industrial hardware may want a very structured, solid appearance,while a floral shop would likely want a colorful, softer look.

Text and Graphics

The most typical and simplest elements are text and graphics. (More on video, sound and programming scripts further below.)

Text

Text should be as short as possible. People don't read as fast from computer screens as they do from paper, and they tend to scan instead of read. To help people scan, include plenty of headlines if the writing is long. Bullet lists of related points also help a user quickly find information. A few other tips on writing and formatting text include:

• Use narrow columns (about half the screen width at 800x600 resolution)
• Avoid special fonts in the text. The fonts won't appear the same on another computer unless both computers have the same fonts loaded. For the most consistent results, stick with Arial, Times New Roman and Courier.
• Use short paragraphs and pages. Print your writing and proofread it on paper. Proofing on a computer screen is notoriously shoddy. It's just too hard to catch every mistake and typo.
• If the writing must be long, do one or all of the following:
  • Break it up into several pages.
  • Let readers open the document in a single, frameless page that's easy to print.
  • Let users download the document as a compressed file or as a PDF file so they can print it later

Graphics

Graphics, including pictures, can accent your site with color, visual images and the special fonts you wouldn't use in text. The catch is that graphics take longer to download, so too many graphics ma kea Web site too slow. A few graphics or pictures certainly liven up a page, so they are absolutely essential. Just use them in moderation.

Some Web sites require pictures to properly showcase products. (Can you imagine selling paintings with nothing more than a verbal description?)Users are more patient when they need to see the product to ma kea decision, so they'll wait when they think it is important. A few hints on using pictures and graphics include:

• Use only a few graphics per page for accenting and creating a design.
• If numerous product pictures are needed, put them on a separate "catalog" page.
• Include a limited number of pictures on each catalog page (perhaps 5 to 10).
• Use small pictures on the catalog pages and link the small pictures to larger pictures if customers need to see more detail.

E-mail

Fast, easy and cheap, E-mail is an excellent way to interact with customers. Notice I said "interact with customers" and not "reach customers." The Internet is an interactive medium, so communications goes both ways.

You should absolutely include a link to your e-mail address on your web site. If you don't know how to use E-mail, you should learn,and you should learn now. I don't often assert general advice as if it applies to everybody, but in this case I do. If you're in business, you have to have e-mail. (Thus is the humble opinion according to Dave. Now back to our regular program.)

Video and Sound

The Internet is becoming a multimedia presentation with video,sound and interaction with the user. As the Internet and computers become faster, video and sound will become standard for high-end Web sites.

The potential drawback is the speed. Video and sound take noticeable time to load, even over fast connections. So in many cases, the yare impractical. (That's why it's sometimes called the world wide wait.) You shouldn't rule them out, just make sure they are important and your customers think they are important. If they don't,they won't wait for them. They'll simply go someplace else.

"Multimedia"Options

There are still some options for putting movement and sound on your site. They take extra time to download, but they are faster than video and sound.

• Flash is the most prevalent option for multimedia. It has fairly small file sizes, and most computers are capable or reading Flash files. Flash is a great way to go for multimedia and rich content.
• Cascading Style Sheets provide some basic visual pizzazz on your site. If you're new to web design, you may find it a bit complicated, but any pro should be using CSS.
• Java script buttons change when the mouse rolls over them or clicks them. Limitation: Older browsers don't support Java and some users disable Java in new browsers.
• Animated GIFs were the web's first animations. They are fairly simple to create. Limitations: They have no sound, don't produce smooth movement and are somewhat cartoonish.

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