There is nothing more disappointing than a boring Web page and nothing more irritating than to surf to a Web page and find it completely out-of-date. The ultimate Web page isn't one that's full of beautiful graphics and text that looks like it came fresh off of your local library's shelf. Even a simple Web page maintained and done well can be one that users will want to return to again and again. Give users some incentive for bookmarking your Web page.

     Below are a few tips and hints on things to do and not do when creating your Web page. Although some are personal likes and dislikes, most of them are what the average 'Net surfer would expect and appreciate.

A) THE TEXT ITSELF

Are all of your Web pages interesting? Will they hold the attention of the user or will the user flee, not wanting to waste his/her time? Is what you have to say or talk about boring? Is your Web page a dead-end or do you have interesting links that users can explore?

 

B) THE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING

You don't have to have a degree in English or Journalism, but proper grammar is a must and you do need to check for obvious blunders. Personally, I cringe when I read a Web page that is poorly written. Well, I cringe and then leave. Most people can tolerate a few grammatical errors (no one is perfect!), but make too many and you'll lose readers. And how about spelling? Invest in a good dictionary. Oh yes punctuation is good too if you don't use it it really is aggravating hard to read and looks weird doesnt it

 

C) STYLE

This is related, in part, to grammar. If it's your style to use slang language, don't use too much of it in a Web page. It gets obnoxious to read. Some examples would be using 'u' for 'you' (my personal pet peeve), 'r' for 'are', 'coz' or 'cuz' for 'cause' or 'because', etc. I won't read a Web page full of this, although an occasional slang word thrown in doesn't bother me. Well, it almost doesn't bother me. ;) Also, make sure that you say what you want to say in a way that YOU would say it. P. S. I've been known to NOT return e-mail because the person writing me did nothing but write it in slang.  A past e-mail that I ignored started with this:

howz u? i'm gr8. Bizzy, butt gr8.

I dumped that one in the trash bin faster than you can blink. 

 

D) SHORT AND TO THE POINT

Don't go on and on incessantly about useless things. Be brief and get to the point. Users love pages that follow this guideline. If you have a topic that needs a lot of text, try dividing it up into sections and putting each on a separate page. Consider putting a table of contents at the top of your page and create links within your own document, if it's long. See also E) and F) below.

 

E) DON'T BE EXCESSIVE

Don't overdo anything. Don't link every other word, don't use excessive formatting (your text loses its impact if you over-use formats, like italics, bold, etc.), DON'T SHOUT A LOT (all caps is considered to be SHOUTING on the Internet), don't use too many images (or images that are too large; keep them small and easy to load for most readers) or tables in one page (not all users are accessing your page with a monster computer and a high-speed connection; Be aware of how fast, or slow, your Web page loads.), and don't have dead links (links that don't go anywhere).

 

F) BE REASONABLY ORGANIZED

Try to keep each Web page topical (one topic per page, please). Try to make your links easily accessible. Don't waste words; if you have a link, don't just say 'Click here to go there'. Be creative and put the link into a descriptive sentence (yes, you should have them). It looks much more professional, too. Also, if you have several Web pages, make sure that you put links back to your home page from the rest of them.

 

G) BE CONSISTENT

Try to set each Web page up using the same layout. What's that mean? Be consistent in your headings and such. If you make titles in one size, keep all titles in that size. This makes the page look better, easier to understand, AND read easier.

02) BASIC THINGS EVERY WEB PAGE SHOULD HAVE

A) A TITLE

Can you imagine a couple having a child and not naming the baby? No, I didn't think so. Well, now imagine a Web page without a title. :)

 

B) HEADINGS

There is no way I want to read a whole Web page to try to find out what it's about. Use headings to clue users in on what you're talking about. Keep headings short and sweet.

 

C) WHO YOU ARE

You don't have to have anything fancy. Maybe just a little line at the end with your name and e-mail address? Give the users a way to contact you if they want more information or if they want to report an error (such as, a dead link) to you.

 

D) PROTECT WHAT IS UNIQUE TO YOU

This is called copyright. If the Web page you create has images or whatever that you created, then put a copyright notice at the bottom. That way, users wanting to use your things should know to ask permission. It's the law.

 

E) CONSTRUCTION NOTICE

If you're page is under construction, tell readers that. But, please, don't leave it under construction forever. Need I remind you of driving through areas that have been under construction for a REALLY long time?

 

F) LINKS

As already mentioned, give readers a link back to your home page, if it's not your home page they are currently on. And give readers interesting places to explore via your links.

 

G) DATE

It's so nice to find a reference on a Web page as to when it was last updated. This is something users really appreciate.

     Most of the information that was mentioned above (C-G) will go in what is called the 'footer'. The footer is simply the bottom of your page. It can be separated from the rest of your Web page by a horizontal rule (<HR>) or a bar or whatever.

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