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If you've surfed horse sites at all, you've probably come across many
sites that are far less than perfect.Here
are some tips to keep your site from being boring, confusing, or hard
for visitors to use. Everyone has different opinions, and every site
is different, but these are just some general guidelines that I've found
are true for most people, based on feedback I've received from clients
and other webmasters I've talked to:
»get
your own domain name
Which do you think is easier to remember and
type? www.myranch.com or www.myfreeserver.com/myusername/nameofwebpage/homepage.html
?
Having your own domain name looks more professional and makes it easier
for people to remember your website address.
»skip
music & noise
I often ask people, "What kind of websites
annoy you?" The most common response is, "Websites with music!".
Some people keep their computer speakers on so they can listen to their
own music or be alerted to certain things (say, a 'ding' when they get
a new email). It can be annoying when a site starts playing music or
sounds to you.
It's
one thing if you can choose to turn music on; it's another when it just
starts by itself. Many people will immediately close a website that
makes noises at them. If you're going to have music or noises play,
make sure the user can start it themselves (or at least shut it off,
so they can turn it off if they don't like it instead of leaving your
site).
»make
sure text is readable
Sometimes a site will have a patterned background
that will make it hard to read text-- other times it will have colors
that clash or have little contrast causing eyestrain.
»don't
make text too huge
Using very large text can make it hard to read
(and take up too much space on a page). I have seen some sites with
large text (not as big as above) that look good, but it's easy to overdo
the big type and make the site actually harder to read.
»don't
clutter the site with unoriginal graphics
 The
first time you see it, you probably think it's neat or cute... but see
the same graphics, over and over again, and you will start to get tired
of them. One big mistake a lot of people make is using free horse graphics
that they get from various online sources (there are some good free
graphics out there, but there are many that are very common too). If
a visitor has seen the graphics on someone else's site, they won't think
your site is that original.
»use
applets & other effects sparingly
I have seen sites that have nice Java applet effects, but I've seen
some that slow site download time or are very common.
For example, a popular one with horse people is the applet that makes
it look as if a photo is being reflected off a lake (often a picture
of a horse is used with an applet to make it look as if the horse is
standing above a rippling lake). This can look nice in instances, but
I've seen a few sites where the photos it ripples are huge, which makes
the site take a while to load.
Some applets will make the site slow to load, or, worse yet, there are
some sites that use applets for navigation button effects. If your browser
doesn't load the applets, it will leave you with no way to navigate
through the site. Make sure your visitors can access the information
they want, and switch pages, and that they don't have to rely on Java
applets or other effects for navigation.
»make
sure navigation is easy
Too often sites make it difficult to navigate
from page to page. Make sure you have links that are easy to find and
understand. You want it to be easy for visitors to go from page to page
and back without having to guess about where each link goes.
»skip
distracting animations
Another thing that often annoys website visitors
is animation. I have seen animations that look good if they are done
right-- but often sites are cluttered with flashing, wiggling animations
that look out of place on a site.
Many people find that animations distract them or make it hard to concentrate
when they are trying to read web page text. It may bother their eyes
if there's an animation moving around next to the text they are trying
to read.
»make
sure it loads quickly
This
is probably one of the top annoyances to web surfers... websites that
take a long time to download! A good rule is to try to keep download
time under 30 seconds. I've seen some sites that use a ton of graphics,
or photos, or photos that have huge file sizes. Most people will leave
your site if it takes a long time to download. Many people still use
dial-up internet connections so websites should always be created to
load quickly for dial-up users. Images should be compressed so that
they aren't taking way too much time to load. But don't overdo it --
you don't want to compress a photo to the point where your horse looks
terribly blurred or deformed.
»More
tips online!
Check
out these sites for more website tips, do's, and don'ts:
Top
10 Web Design Mistakes of 2002 (Useit.com)
Top
10 Web Design Mistakes of 2003 (Useit.com)
PDFs:
Unfit for Human Consumption (Useit.com)
Website
Design Mistakes to Avoid (Netropolis)
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Email
us: Info@UltimateHorseSites.com
Annamaria & Caterina Tadlock
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