The number of web site design companies is growing as quick as the Internet itself as everyone and their dog with a book and a copy of Frontpage is cobbling together web sites and charging huge fees for half a job. So how do you avoid the coding cowboys and find your own web site wizard? Our top 10 tips for designing your web site will, I hope, help you to achieve your online ambitions.

1/ Layout and design should be consistant throughout the site with navigation in the same positions on each page. Typefaces and effects such as bullet points should be the same throughout. If you use Bold page titles do so on every page.

2/ Make the text easy to read, keep it aligned left not centred, not too small. All capitalized text is like shouting and harder to read that lower case text. Black text on a white background is easier than white text on a dark background. Web Site useability advice is available at www.useit.com

3/ Make all hyperlinks easy to identify. If they are not in the standard red and blue then give them empasis using bold, underlines or larger font size. Ensure graphic links are clearly labled. Ease of use is more important than using the latest flashy effects.

4/ A quick download is crucial. Avoid using the latest cool animated effect as many users are slow to accept new developments. Users won’t wait for large image files or animations to load, they just click on the next web site and are lost. Keep the programming code lean by hand editing out unnecessary code and optimise images for speedier loading using image compression software such aswww.xat.com
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