Five
mistakes to avoid with the community-geared website
For the first short advice column I thought I might list five
of the worst mistakes people can make when designing a website
for information and promotion purposes. Many of these are obvious,
some are clear only once the shortcoming is seen on the screen
or page. They are in no particular order, but all can mean the
death of a potentially useful site.
1.
The use of too many different fonts
Too many websites use more than two or even three separate font
sets. Worse still others use obscure or non-standard fonts.
This practice makes figuring out the significance and order
of information difficult and is often hard to even read. What
may look good in an annual report may not look the same on a
web-page because the two are different mediums.
2.
Unnecessary use of cutting edge technology
I have seen too many sites that are supposedly designed for
community access that are un-viewable to anyone who has a computer
over two years of age. The style, layout and web technology
that is employed in any community website should reflect the
capability of the end-user to view the page; not the ability
of the designer to impress. It is pointless having the latest
flash-capable sights and sounds extravaganza web-site if your
regular visitors only have normal dial-up connections and older
computers.
3.
Haphazard and sloppy navigation
Many sites have been designed with the overall ‘look’
or ‘feel’ in mind rather than an obvious and clear
navigation system. It is important to remember that real visitors
will be (hopefully) using your website. It is best if you let
them know how to get around. A web site should be designed with
functionality and clarity in mind. The standard conventions
of left or top navigation-bars, while old and sometimes boring,
tend to be obvious and logical.
4.
Lack of corporate identity
Many sites are, by dint of their design histories, ramshackle
collections of cobbled together sections and projects. This
can be particularly true of larger organisations that tend to
run a number of projects at once. A clear identification with
the parent organisation is an imperative for a uniform website
aspect. Too many websites contain any number of sections that
bear no resemblance to any other section on the same server.
To overcome this process of psychological discord, it is important
to maintain at least similar navigation, layout, font schemes
or colours, image presentations and/or icons. Subtle variations
can be employed to efectively distinguish between the various
parent organisation’s projects or divisions. More will
be written on this in a later column.
5.
Constant movement of page locations
A sure way of concealing your presence on the web is
to constantly move your website location or various pages within
it. People who have visited even once will wonder if you exist
any longer, or whether various projects are still functioning
simply because the web page has been moved. Even the use of
redirection pages can be off-putting to potential investors,
clients or donors. If you don’t change your phone number
each week, don’t change your web addresses! It is imperative
to choose an address that you can live with for as long as practicable.
If a move is ultimately necessary it should be preceded with
as much warning as possible and a notification of the change
must be posted at the old page’s address. The more changes
to addresses you make, the more likely it is that you have just
hidden part of your site.
September
2004
Laurence Brown
Next
column: Taking the magic out of your web site
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