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Archive for February 15th, 2010

Web Design Checklist

There are many companies that will design your website here in India and overseas. But what most people do not understand are the technical details and standards that should be followed to get the most out of your website. When I design a website I always follow the below checklist to make sure the site is easily accessible to everyone and usable.

Loading time is one of the most important factors in website designing. Statistics show that 80 of the users leave the site if it has not loaded within 10 seconds. Make it very clear to your website design company that the website should load quickly. Your website design company should do various tests on your website pages and send you a detailed report on the loading times.

Graphics such as pictures and Flash should not be excessively used. Pictures tell a thousand words but using too many pictures can make your site bloated and hard to navigate. Most people visit a website to access information. It is critical that information should be central to the designing of any website while pictures should compliment the information. Furthermore pictures and technologies such as Flash can make your site larger in size thereby increasing the loading time. Also some browsers are not able to view Flash properly. That is why Flash should be used very carefully and an alternative should always be provided in case the user is not able to view such technologies.

Navigation is one of the most important factors when designing a website. Users should be able to navigate the site with ease. Proper navigation should always include a top or a side menu and a bottom text menu. Organization of navigational links in categories is very important if your site has many links.

Listing on search engines is particularly important for web businesses. It is essential that a website is configured properly for search engines such as Yahoo and Google. Aspects such as proper meta tags dynamic content popular links content and headings often helps increase listing on search engines.

Accessibility is the key to a successful website. A website should be accessible to as many users as possible. This includes users with different browsers varying resolutions and visually impaired users. The final website must accommodate the different needs of various user groups to gain the maximum possible usage and exposure.

Use the above points as a checklist to make sure your website complies.

About the writer:  You are welcome to visit us for website design in India or outsourcing website design to India. Also you can view free information on how to best design your website.