• SO WHAT MAKES A GOOD WEB SITE?

  • Audience: know your audience, know them and know their capabilities. Within this digital medium, expectations are high and pain thresholds are low.

  • Content: offer rich content. Visitors will have huge appetites, but be careful. Don't offer up lots of information in one go, let human curiosity create the desire for more and hand over the controls.

  • Design: keep it simple, intuitive, combine both form & function, adopt both digital and print mediums, and keep your lowest common denominator in mind.

  • Tone of voice: talk to me, use my language, show your personality and make me smile. Apply this tone of voice across content, prompts and navigation.

  • Technology: adopt forward thinking technologies, again, keep it simple and keep it agile, in terms of data, think single input with multiple output.

  • Advertise: get social, get optimised and get noticed.

  • Update: keep it fresh, keep it updated & repeat often.

  • 01 Keep it Simple

  • This is the number one rule. Apply to content, design, navigation, site map and functionality. With a wide range of browsers and mobile devices, keeping it simple will be invaluable.

  • 02 Know Your User

  • Design for your target audience and at the same time with the lowest common denominator in mind. Standard browser version, standard monitor size and standard HTML versions.

  • 03 Less is More

  • The web naturally lends itself to big images and small amounts of copy, and not the other way around. Ideally cater for all tastes by offering sound-bites of information that can be expanded at the click of a button.

  • 04 Pull vs Push

  • Users always prefer to be in the driving seat when it comes to viewing your site, you'll not win any friends by force feeding or pushing content. Instead, allow users to pull or select the content they wish to view.

  • 05 Three Click Principle

  • A straight forward rule, allowing users to get to the information within three clicks, there's just no need to bury the information. Users need to get to the content quickly and easily, and without having to think about it.

  • 06 Tone of Voice

  • Stand out from the crowd and show some personality, setting out a clear tone of voice. Then apply this consistently site wide, across content, prompts and navigation.

  • 07 Standard Navigation

  • Try to adopt the usual suspects when it comes to your main menu. Main menus should be both clear and familiar. Users just won't have the time to learn how to navigate your site.

  • 08 Black on White

  • Always ensure that the site will work well both on screen and in print. Good sites ensure enough contrast between foreground and background making it clean and easy to read whatever the medium.

  • 09 Form & Function

  • Some sites forego the form, and others will forego the functionality, neither quite living up to expectations and leaving users unfulfilled. Therefore a subtle balance of both form & function is required at all times.

  • 10 Future Proof

  • The digital medium continues to change rapidly, new browsers, new technology, new coding standards and languages. Applying foresight or future proofing ensures your site adapts seemlessly to these changes.