Web Designing Tutorial - Learn HTML, CSS, Java Script, Flash Website Designing Tips: 25 Ways To Improve Your Site In 15 Minutes

Monday, March 23, 2009

Use your logo: Link it to your homepage. Sounds simple enough but it will save time for your users.
Make links obvious: It’s a quick job to style them so they contrast against regular body copy.
Make text readable: Don’t worry about cramming text so small so it stays ‘above the fold’ - let your text breathe by adding line height and space. And don’t be shy about increasing your font size.
Make a useful 404 page: Maybe put a few words to explain what a 404 error is and point people to your site map, homepage or search facility.
Offer a way to contact: Sounds simple, but if there is no way to contact you, people may not be able to tell you of issues on the site.

Add title attributes: Add relevant title attributes to your main navigation. It will strengthen on-page SEO with very little effort.
Create a Google site map: There are many generators and it only takes minutes. You can increase your website’s saturation almost instantly.
Optimise title tags: Check title tags are relevant on your key pages and improve them where necessary.
Check headers: Check that pages make use of H1, H2 and H3 tags. Check that these contain your main keywords (and still make perfect sense to the reader. No spammy tactics, else a kitten will tread on broken glass remember.)
Link from your copy: Often forgotten about, why not interlink from key pages deeper into the site?

Feedback: Get a few people to make one suggestion each about your site. It’s easy to be blind to mistakes on your own website.
Browsers: Check your main website’s functionality in (e-commerce/gallery etc) in as many browsers as possible. Note any issues to fix later.
Give direction: Your homepage isn’t an ‘about’ page. Give visitors a reason to click around. (Log in / Sign up / Request brochure etc.)
Let the user be in control: Avoid popups, resizers and all those nasty things. It’s the users browser, not yours. Most popups can simply be placed on a new page.
Animation: I’m not against a bit of useful animation, but don’t let images animate continually whilst the user is trying to read the content or look at a product. It’s like trying to sell a car to someone whilst dancing around distractingly in the background in a giant banana suit. Almost.

Rewrite: Read your opening paragraph. If it doesn’t engage you then rewrite it.
Simplify: If you use too much jargon, replace as many instances as you can with clear wording. Jargon doesn’t help anyone.
RSS: Let your RSS feed be auto-discovered. It’s easier for the user to locate that way.
Don’t overdo it: People don’t have all day. Put key information in succinct paragraphs on the page. Waffling (except for around here!) is not for the web.
Accessible: Check that you can access all the key pages of your site as a first time user. You may need a volunteer or two to test this theory.

Visibility: Check that you’re high in Google for your company name. If not, add a few links to your site with the company name in the link.
Be nice: Answer a question on a forum about your speciality. You’ll gain a friend and some respect. Authority = traffic.
Get involved: If you’re not on (by on I mean even a basic profile/listing) all of the cool places to hang out (Facebook for instance) then sign up. People may be looking for your services via these channels.
Read: Read stuff on the internet? But it’s all fake? I kid. Read a news story about your industry - it may come in handy as a reference.
Stay Ahead: Similar to the above, except this time keep an eye on new web technology. If you can use a new technology to your advantage and you get in there first then you may have just carved out a niche.