To give your website a professional appearance, there are a number of things that must be ensured, namely:
- Your website content should be both useful and interesting content, as well, it should be presented in an appealing manner with a quick download time. The sites overall appearance i.e. backgrounds, fonts, etc. should remain consistent page to page and only web-safe colours and fonts should be used.
- A professionally designed website loads faster due to a clear navigation system, unbroken graphics and links that work well.
- Use a limited number of graphics appropriate to the content of your website, optimising the graphics used to improve load times.
- Change the content of your site frequently to encourage return visitors.
- Keep contact information easily accessible, responding quickly to requests for information or trouble reports.
- Start a newsletter allowing visitors to keep in touch, tell them about any new changes to your site. However, make sure you are not harvesting e-mail addresses for spam purposes.
- Offering a loads of free stuff and members-only specials will add to its attraction.
- Do away with too many animated graphics, unwanted pop-ups or music with no ‘off’ button, as these tend to annoy visitors.
- Keep clean HTML tags.
- Design a cross browser compatible website that is accessible to text only browsers, as well.
There are certain design gimmicks that should be avoided since they prove to be red flags to an unprofessional web appearance:
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Animated bullets
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Too many graphic and / or line dividers
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Multiple banners and buttons
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Too much advertising
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Large Welcome banners
Other things to be avoided are:
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No Meta tags
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Under construction signs
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Scrolling text in the status bar
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Large scrolling text across the page
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Poor use of mouse over effects
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Poor browser compatibility
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Poor use of frames
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Poor use of tables
Keeping all of the above in mind and you can be sure you will come up with website that is not only attractive but has a decidedly professional touch to it.
