6 web design tips to remember

: Reduce your clutter! >

Here are some tips that might be of use if you're setting up your blog or website, or you're planning to change the design.  Note: this isn't a technical guide, it's just a few ideas to consider when you decide how you want your blog or website to look.

1.  Stick to a simple colour scheme.

Use black text on a white background for your site.  You don't have to use white, but it should be a light colour.  A black background with white text can be very difficult on the eyes for some people (including me).

I don't like background images at all, but using a light-coloured "watermark" can be quite effective.  Just don't use photos or other images as your background if they make the text difficult to read.

2.  Change the default theme.

Many blogging / website systems will give you a half-decent default theme.  It may be tempting to leave the default theme up because it works.

Unfortunately, seeing the default theme for Wordpress or Blogger (two very popular blogging systems) is all too common on the web, and you may never stand out if you keep the default theme on your site.

Most systems have plenty of themes available - you just need to do a bit of searching.  Installing them may seem like a daunting task - it varies a lot from one system to the next.  At the very least, add a banner to the top of the page.

3.  How many columns?

If you're looking around for a theme, you might be wondering how many columns you should have alongside your content.  You could have no columns at all, one, two or maybe more.

I think that too many columns will unnecessarily clutter up the page.  I use one column on my site and that is enough for me.  However, it's quite wide.  If you have two columns (one on each side) then they will probably be narrower.

I think it is acceptable to have darker colours for the columns at the side of the page as it gives a clear separation between your main content and the "additional" content.

4.  Keep ads and widgets to a minimum.

I strongly believe that you should keep third party objects to a minimum unless they benefit you.  If you want to experiment with a few items, don't add more than two or three at a time.

Adding loads of ads to a brand new blog is not very attractive.  I have seen so many blogs that add loads of icons, ads, widgets and goodness knows what else... and for what purpose?  All it does is distract attention from what's most important: the content!

Don't let unnecessary clutter take precedence - put your content first.

5.  Don't force visual or audible content on people.

Want to put music or a video on your site?  If so, whatever you do, don't make it play automatically when someone visits the site.  This is one of the most annoying things on the web and if you do it, a lot of people will not come back to your site.

6.  Avoid animated images, marquees, and blinking text.

These are BIG annoyances.  They do not look cool.  At best, they're a minor distraction that just gets ignored.  At worst, your readers won't be able to concentrate on reading your content.


There are a lot more tips but I think these are some of the biggest ones.  Without getting too technical, can you suggest any others?

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