10 Tips to a Great Web Page
Make Your Site Valuable to Your Readers
By Jennifer Kyrnin
Web Design & HTML Expert
- Your pages must load fast
If you do nothing else to improve your web pages, you should make them load as fast as possible. You will read about how internet connections are getting faster and faster, but no matter how fast the average connection is for your readers, there is always more data, more content, more images, more everything for them to download. If your pages open fast, your readers will stay longer.
- Your pages should only be as long as they need to be
People skim online, especially when they first get to a page. You want the contents of your page to give them what they want quickly, but provide enough detail for those who want expansion on the basics. Keep these five tips in mind when writing your Web copy:
- a. Start with the conclusion.
If you stick the most important points at the end, most of your visitors may never see it.
- b. Use lots of lists
Web readers love lists because they're easy to scan. Lists are also easy to understand without having to read every word in the article.
- c. Be concise
Nobody has enough time these days, so respect your readers' time and get to the point already. Just say it. Get to the point.
- d. Use short paragraphs
It's hard to read long, dense paragraphs on a computer monitor. Have only one thought in each paragraph.
- e. Write good headlines / titles
Readers decide whether or not they want to invest more time reading your article based on the title.
- Your pages need great navigation
If your readers can't get around on the page or on the website they won't stick around. You should have navigation on your web pages that is clear, direct, and easy to use.
- Use sprites and small images
Small images are about the download speed more than the physical size. CSS sprites are also a very important way to speed up site images. With the images stored as one larger image, that reduces the HTTP requests for your page, which is a huge speed enhancement.
- You should use appropriate colors
Color is critical on web pages, but colors have meanings to people, and using the wrong color can have the wrong connotation if you're not careful. You should be aware of what the color choices you use on your web page are saying to people around the world. When you create your web color scheme keep in mind color symbolism.
- You should think local and write global
Websites are global and great websites recognize that. You should make sure that things like currencies, measurements, dates, and times are clear so that all your readers will know exactly what you mean.
- You should spell everything correctly
Many people are not tolerant of spelling errors. People judge websites by the quality of the writing, and spelling and grammar errors are an obvious indicator of quality for many people.
- Your links must work
Broken links are another sign for many readers (and search engines, too) that a site is not maintained. Link rot is something that happens without even noticing.
- You should avoid saying just "click here"
Annotating your links means that you should write links that explain where the reader is going to go, and what they are going to find there. By creating links that are clear and explanatory, you help your readers and make them want to click. Adding that type of directive right before a link can help some readers understand that the underlined, different colored text is intended to be clicked on.
- Your pages should have contact information
By putting contact information on your site, you are helping your readers trust you. If there is an email address or phone number, they know they can contact you if there's a problem. If you do have contact information on your site, follow up on it. Answering your contacts is the best way to create a long-lasting customer, especially as so many email messages go unanswered.