Your Website Design -- The Elements to Include and Not Include

Whether you are designing your own site or gathering information for a designer, it is a good idea to know the process so you can keep ??on top of?? the project, know some of the pitfalls and understand the ??language.?? In this article I discuss the elements that should appear and should not appear on your pages. Note: Realize that I am voicing my opinion along with opinions that are current in the web development and/or design community. Ultimately, it is your site and you have the right to do it the way you want.

Elements that should appear on every page:

* Navigation tools that make sense. What do I mean by ??make sense??? Have you ever visited a site where the buttons are icons that do not indicate what they stand for (even when you roll over them). Or maybe it is a Flash opening page with no clue about the site or how to enter. If your visitor has a huge amount of time and a curious streak, he or she may investigate, but most visitors will leave with a speedy click.
* Navigation bars that are easy to find and follow. There are many ways to navigate web sites, but there are standard locations for navigation bars that most visitors to your site will check out first. The obvious are across the top and down the left side of the page. By using rollovers and/or fly-out (popup) menus you can provide links to a large number of pages. Note: When planning navigation, you should devise ways that cut down on the number of clicks the visitor needs to make to get where he or she wants to go (three are considered the maximum).
* Complete contact information. Even though you may have a separate page called ??Contact Us?? I feel that having your name, address, phone number and e-mail on every page makes it easy for your visitor to get in touch. It also gives you credibility (you are not hiding where you are located and your phone number).
* Navigation links across the bottom of the page. Another way to facilitate navigation is to have the major links repeated at the bottom of the page, including the link to ??Home?? (lately I have noticed that on many sites the developers make the logo a hot link back to the home page, but a lot of visitors don??t realize it).

Elements that should not appear on any page.

* Banner Ads. Even though Banner Ads a few years ago would garner clicks and possibly make sales, most people are completely turned off today and either leave the site completely or avoid them.
* Continual animation. Back when we were all just starting to surf the Internet, we would have some fun with animated characters and other cutesy graphics that danced and moved. They were something new. Today they can be a huge distraction and bother. If you add an element that moves, don??t have it keep on moving forever. It is like the blinking neon sign outside your motel room -- annoying.
* Pop-ups and pop-unders. I don??t even have to explain these.
* Counters. Before there were effective programs to keep track of your website??s statistics, these counters served to register visitors. The problem is that they are inaccurate (you can start the count at 20,000 if you wish) and they are considered a real sign of being an amateur designer.