Key Elements Of Web Design

Introduction

There are many aspects to consider when designing a website, but there are five broad goals that should be followed at all costs. First and foremost, the designer needs to focus on the target audience for the website and always consider their point of view. Secondly, the designer should follow the recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and run the web site’s URLs through their complimentary evaluation tools to ensure the highest level of accessibility. Also, the content and structure of a website must be carefully constructed for ease of use and present concise information. To make a good impression the website needs to be aesthetically pleasing without overdoing graphics or special effects. And finally the designer needs to plan for future growth as well as continually evaluate and refresh the web site.

Target Audience

The whole point of creating a web site is to promote a person or organization to a particular audience. Pinpointing the needs and interests of your specific audience is the first step to launching a successful web site. “Work from the users’ point of view. Think about where users want to go within your web site and make it easy for them to get there” (Sklar, 2003). Once you brainstorm all the various information the audience may be seeking, you can begin to organize the material into a logical structure. “A successful web-site, evidently, is the one that is capable of attracting quality visitors and retain them” (Chatterjee, 2006). The content of a web site is the crucial way of retaining visitors and giving them what they want without too much clutter to sort through. Web readers are impatient and don’t have time to sift through needless information that doesn’t relate to what they are looking for.

Organization

This is one of the most difficult tasks of beginning a web site; planning the content of the pages and how that material should be organized. The most sophisticated site is doomed if its essential information is buried within layers of pages that are difficult to navigate. Think of the broad information categories such as contact info, mission, services, etc. and the other information that falls under those categories and that will the help the designer plan the navigational portion of the site. “A simple, logical, understandable navigation scheme can increase your number of page impressions, boost return visits, and improve your вЂ?conversion rate’ (the number of visitors who are "converted" into customers). It's a critical aspect of site design that has a direct effect on the bottom line” (Chatterjee, 2006).

W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential (W3C, 2007).

This knowledgeable and influential organization offers online accessibility evaluation tools designed to help bring web sites up to their required standards. Checking your pages’ HTML accessibility ensures the most well designed pages that will be usable for the most people possible. Beginning designers may also find these source tools helpful in understanding how to construct clean code and what background and font colors are the most easy to read.

Aesthetics

Obviously the