Website Design 101
Simple tips to a professional looking website

Ah, Web Design...

A subjective phrase if there ever was one. To some people, the way a site looks means very little to them, they're just interested in delivering content and don't care if their site is uglier than sin. I'm not one of those people.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I like bloated code or that I think it's fine to make folks hang around for a day while graphics load. Au contraire, you should strive for the fastest loading site possible, but that doesn't mean it has to look crappy.

Remember, a professional looking site is always worth shooting for. It'll make your visitors trust what you have to say and/or sell.

And One More Thing

There is a not-so-fine line between an attractive website and one so overdone, it's stupid. Ever come upon a site so heavy in Flash that you can't get to the "skip intro" button fast enough? (who invented website intros anyway?...just gimme the site, please!)

And speaking of excess, another major complaint is noise (aka music) on a website. You may think it's a good idea to have some plinking keyboard tune attacking the public, but they'll hate you for it. I promise. So keep it quiet and you'll keep visitors on your site.

Some Design Tips:

Logo

Make a logo for your site and show it at the top of every page. Even if you don't have an actual logo, do something nice with straight text (add a drop shadow, use a great font, etc.). It'll make your site look more professional and creates branding. You want people to remember your site and recognize it as yours whether they're on the first page or 10 pages in.

Colors

Find a palette to work with and stick with it. Sites should look unified, just as you want the logo at the top of every page, you'll want the pages to look pretty much the same (unless you're doing something cool, but ask someone if it's really cool, or if you just think it is). You're giving the visitor an experience and again, you want them to know as clear as day where they are.

Remember, colors evoke moods and describe your website's personality, so bright, screaming loud colors that might be great for a game website will likely freak people out on a yoga site. Your best bet is to scour the web and find sites you like and borrow their palettes.

One trick that works well is to keep the colors in the same family. So if you pick a nice green from the color chooser in your graphics or web design program as your main color, you might want to choose the other colors by moving the slider upwards for lighter shades, down for darker. By only moving the slider vertically, you retain the base color, giving you a great monochromatic look.

Alternatively, you might choose 3 totally different colors and build your site around that. Hopefully, you have a modicum of taste, and if not, ask your friends for an opinion. I'm sure they'll tell you if your color scheme sucks.

What if I don't care how things look?

Then bully for you, ignore all the above. But when you're all alone on a Friday night with your pleather cowboy boots, food-stained shirt and lavender leisure suit, wondering why you can't get a date...think about it.