Source: Straits Times, Digital Life. Wednesday, May 6, 2009 by The New York Times

Wow with good website design

If you want a website, you must decide how you want it to look, Here are 10 rules to remember.

Lead by example

You should never assume the user understands your model or the goal behind your website. This means that you should know the purpose behind your site so that you can effectively relay it to the reader. A commercial website may have different needs - an online shopping cart, for example 0 from a personal use.

Remember also attention spans are short, so you should never make the reader work to understand your site.

Make the web site search engine friendly

Whether your website is for professional of personal use, you should design it with a search engine optimisation in mind. It is better to use Web-safe fonts, for example, over graphic-heavy text.

Do your research

Look at websites you like. Almost all sites have a core layout. Find a template you like and use it as your springboard.

Test your website

Test your site in advance of its launch and regularly thereafter, even if you plan on updating it only infrequently. Make sure your site works on different browsers - especially Internet Explorer and Firefox - as well as across different fonts and screen resolutions. Broken links not only prevent a visitors from getting access to their desired information but also present you in a less0-than-flattering light online.

Don't get flash drunk

Or for that matter colour or graphics drunks, When choosing your colour palette, a minimalist approach is best.

Don't eliminate all white space

Some websites have a policy of no white space, also known as the blank space between text or other graphics.

However, if used well, white space can help direct a reader's eye to specific information you want highlighted. White space can also cut down on clutter and create invisible boundaries across texts.

Don't make the user wait

Your website should load quickly. If you insist on having music on your site, give the user the option to mute it. Keep pop-ups, banner ads and other as-like content to a minimum.

Don't bounce around

Keep the look of your site consistent. if your logo is on the upper left hand site, for example, keep it there across all pages. Also make sure to have a tab on every page that lets users link back to the home page. As a test, ask yourself if you'd be able to navigate your site if it were written in another language

Don't clutter the home page

Make sure your home page is clean and not overrun with links. The goal is to provide the reader with enough information to enter your site, not to scare them away.

Don't forget about content

Content is ultimately king. Good Web design highlights the content and adds to it without detracting from the site's goal. Still, good design alone does not cut it. text matters, so keep your photographs informative but short.