|
What is the
mission for your website? Does it successfully blend content and context?
(Published
October 15, 2001)
By Ginny Stibolt www.sky-bolt.com
 
Your website may be amazing, but it should not be a maze or a game.
You want your visitors to quickly and easily get the information they need about your business.
This is the third in a series of articles on web content written especially for
Digital Harbor On-Line. Today we’re combining content and style because in order for your website
visitors to easily decipher your message, you not only need to make
sure the text is clearly written, but that the text can be read, your
site is easy to navigate and that you’ve followed normal web
protocol for clarity. Remember that you need to test your website with various browsers to see what
happens.
Starting with readability and “normal” protocol:
Your website
should be readable – the font should be easy to see.
This is a function of both the typeface and the font color compared to the background.
Choose a clean font that is available in all browsers such as Arial or Verdana and make sure the font is large
enough and that its color is dark on a light background or light on a dark background.
(Light background is preferred for readability.)
All hyperlinks
should be underlined. - A different color is not good enough because people may have
trouble seeing colors. No other text should be underlined. Yes, you could tell the difference if you run your
mouse cursor over this spot, but no guessing should be required. This goes for buttons, logos, icons and other items
that look like they could be a link – if it looks like a link, it should be a link – if it doesn’t look like a
link, it shouldn’t surprise the visitor by being a link.
If you have
a background image, it should be simple and not interfere with the readability of the text.
If the background is more than just adding texture to the site, it should have some significance for the mission of your
webpages. I’ve noticed that there are some juvenile graphics on more than a few business-oriented sites –
remember you need to look out for your overall image and the message your visitor receives from your site.
The fact of life in cyber-space is that you have to work within the lowest
(or at least lower) common denominator. This may be fortunate or unfortunate depending upon your
point of view. You may have high speed Internet access and 21” monitors set at 1024 x768
pixels, but many people do not have this set up. You cannot assume that all the bells and whistles your web
designer would like to put on your website are supported in most
environments. Test and retest your site using various computers, browsers and formats.
AOL has a huge market share of people on line – if someone is accessing the Internet through AOL, this has its own set of supported
features. You and your webmaster need to know what features are supported.
Keep in mind the mission for your website and make sure your visitors are not left wondering what to do to find
the information they need about you and your business. This is not a mystery to be
solved – your website needs to be straightforward and obvious to be
a successful business site.
~ ~ ~
Ginny Stibolt has a
mission to help small businesses maximize their web presence through
practical design and good marketing and PR. She's been known to
contact perfect strangers with ideas for their webpages.
www.sky-bolt.com
This was originally published
on Digital Harbor On-line.
Top of
page
If you are looking for
content, you may republish this article as long as it's unchanged and includes
an active link to the www.sky-bolt.com
website. If you use this article, please let us know. If you wish to
have an updated article or one with a
slightly different slant, please contact us. Thanks very
much.
Where great ideas come out of the blue.
|
