Website Design – Things to Include

There are a lot of different aspects that go into website design, and while including as many features as you can seem seem like a good idea at first, this can quickly lead to a cluttered website. On a similar note, too few features can make a site look bare, which will cause most users to simply hit their "back" button. Having the right balance of key components of a site and extra features is a good way to attract users, and in this article we'll go over some of the things your site should always include, and some of the things you can skip.

Navigation bars are popular features in website design that make sites easy to move around in and give the site a sort of professional quality. You may also try using images as links to different aspects of your site, or have the entire site contained within a Java or Flash application for a unique approach to how it looks. If you do use an applet for the main part of your site, be careful with how you use audio such as music and sound effects, as well as moving objects and animations, as these can make websites seem overly busy and cluttered. If you use animations for navigation, like when a user moves between two parts of a site, keep them short and simple, otherwise they can quickly become annoying. When in doubt, keep it as simple as possible.

Your site should also have contact information if it is for a business or a personal news bulletin like a blog or family chat center. Keeping this contact information limited depending on how you want it used is important, and you should never post a personal phone number on the internet unless you want a lot of advertisements or potentially harassing calls. Having a support e-mail for a business or a personal e-mail for a personal website is a good website design idea, but you should present e-mail addresses like this: yourname [at] suchandsuch.com. This will keep automated programs that look for e-mails from sending you spam.

There are a lot of different website design ideas that you may or may not need for your website, and it's up to you to decide what your site needs and does not. The main thing to keep in mind is that simple, easy to use sites are most popular with users.