Dead-End Designs

Though it's exciting to build a Web site, don't rush to upload it before you've reviewed this checklist of common design problems.

  1. Busy Backgrounds: Avoid complex, eye-straining background images. Choose images that tile well (background images "tile," or repeat, to fill the browser window). Consider using solid background colors.

  2. Hard-to-Read Text or Links: Again, avoid busy backgrounds, but text may be hard to read even on a solid background if it's too small or its color doesn't show up well against the background.

  3. Broken Links: Broken links are annoying. Before you upload your pages (and periodically afterwards), use a link validator like NetMechanic to check your links.

  4. Browser Differences: Test your pages in at least the big-two browsers: Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Different browsers display pages — especially pages using tables — quite differently.

  5. Slow-Loading Pages: Keep your pages' file sizes as low as possible — a maximum of 60K. Minimizing the number and size of images is most important. Gif Wizard can optimize your GIFs, and using HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes for all images makes them load faster.

  6. Spelling Mistakes: Eliminate typos and misspelled words. Use a dictionary, a spellchecker, or an online spellchecker like Doctor HTML. Proofreading helps, too.

  7. Blinking Text: Blinking text can be irritating. To emphasize text, make it bold or uppercase, increase its size, or change its color.

  8. Hit Counters: Avoid hit counters, especially if you don't get many visitors. People generally don't care how many hits you've had. Some counters also make your pages load slowly.

  9. Background Music: Don't use background music or sound clips unless they're relevant to your site's content. Sound can slow down a page. If you do use it, keep it short and make it easy for users to turn off.

  10. Difficult Navigation: Don't let your audience get lost sifting through the pages of your site. On each page, include links back to your homepage and to other sections of your site.