Website approach

My preference is for a simple accessable website that will open with any browser and sreen size and has a pleasing but low key color scheme. but I do sometimes get comments about the site not being attractive enough.

I wonder if peopl do really like a lot of graphics or you really can't win either way. At least a plain accessible site will be function for everyone and maybe plain bu not ugly? And I know the dial up users appreciate it...

Am I showing my age there, time for more pictures and colours?

I think a lot of people prefer a rather plain or simple looking website. I've had some folks tell me that mine has too many pictures or it loads slowly (if they have dial-up) I guess we can't please everyone so we might as well make our sights pleasing to ourselves.

what kind of website do you want to represent?

What most webmasters tell a newbie like me is to make you site user-friendly. I think I have an idea of what they mean but I can't elaborate because I'm not a programmer.

When I design new sites, I always go for options that will appeal to the greatest number of people. It is possible to have a snappy looking website without flash and a lot of Java. Plus, what's the value of having a techy website if dial up users choke on trying to download it? There are still dial up users out there.

I would keep the navigation simple and easy to use, flash to a minimum, try to keep your code clean, use GIFs over JPEGs when possible and remember to put a "weenie" at the beginning of your page (to hook the visitor into registering or trying a key feature of your site). Remember, the average time spent on a site is like 15 seconds - if you can't hook them that quickly - if it takes a visitor that long to figure out what to do next, you've lost them.

I do like using images for navigation and other things where using text hyperlinks will detract from your site theme. If the first words on your page are "Click to go Home", the search engines will think your page is about Clicking to go Home.

Originally Posted by thevolcanogod I do like using images for navigation and other things where using text hyperlinks will detract from your site theme. If the first words on your page are "Click to go Home", the search engines will think your page is about Clicking to go Home.

I was under the impression that text links were better for search engines, especially if the text link was for the particular product or service. For example, if an Avon Rep's site has a text link for "Beauty Products" as opposed to an image-based button, the search engine will pick up on that.

My company's current website has image buttons as well as text links at the bottom, so we cover both aesthetics as well function.

Originally Posted by theglyphon I wonder if peopl do really like a lot of graphics . . .

A page full of text is pretty boring and unappealing. Graphics make a big difference inthe presentation of a website. remember the tried and true quote, "A picture is a worth a thousand words?" It is really true. I spend a lot of time creating images, either photos or graphics to add color to my pages.

What is really discouraging to the web surfer is slow downloading caused by heavy graohics. I always make it a point to compress any images that appear on my site to minimize download time.

Another thing that can be annoying is animation and sound. A repetitive animation that doesn't stop or a song played over and over again will drive visitors away.

But appearance is important and graphics definitely help when used judiciously.

These days people like more dynamic sites where they can intercate with other users, if you want a decent site for today , then better use wordpress because it creates sites in a flash

It is important that your website is sticky so that your visitors spend time on your website and keep coming back. One way to do this is to make your website visually attractive and images are an important aspect of this.

Yes , its good to use images , but lots of images does not help you to come up in google, you need a good combination of images and text to get a good site