Designing your own web page or site is a project that can be as fun and creative as you like. You're putting your work out there for potentially millions of people to read. Whether your site showcases your prized collection of stamps, your photos of family and pet[s], or you're trying to build a new business; your web site is the best window of opportunity to make a good impression. Keep in mind that most surfers will give your page about 15 seconds. This means one thing: make it memorable! To do this, here are 8 important gaffes to avoid.

1. There are hundreds of available fonts from the standard size Times New Roman to extra large and bold Goudy Stout. Using more than two, possibly three, fonts are not recommended. It's fun experimenting with the right font for your page, but unless you're creating a web site where you're featuring fonts, keep it simple. Also, script fonts look awful when they're done in all capital letters.

2. With the advent of animated graphics [GIF's], most of them available for the rock bottom price of nothing, people can go crazy decorating their site with the visual equivalent of Disney World. Some of the animations do more than move; they make noise! Remember, folks, less is more! One or two appropriate animations per page can enhance it. Yes, animation is fun. But too much can be distracting.

3. Spell check your page. Read it. Then read it again. Even if you have a graphics' intensive site, you will have some text. When that text is misspelled and/or full of grammatical errors, you'll turn away a proportionate amount of traffic. I once discovered a site with TWELVE misspellings on one page! No matter what you're selling or showing on the WWW, being able to do so in proper English [or whatever your language] is always appreciated. Most word processing programs include a spell check. And if you're in doubt, have someone who likes to read and write proofread it.

4. Text only sites are BORING! If we want to read a book online we'll go to an e-book company and download one! Or to the library -- get the point? Even if you're designing a serious reference site, there's always a way to include an elegant little graphic, a non-white background, or a line to break up the paragraphs. The Internet is a visual medium for most of us [except those who run their browser in a text-only format], so make it look attractive. After all, you are inviting people to share something with you.

5. The other extreme would be sites that are so graphics' intensive that we spend several minutes waiting for the last picture to load. While it may be a very entertaining site, the epoch it takes to show us how fantastic those photos/graphics really are may be too long for impatient surfers. Balance pictures with text. Find a way to make the photos into thumbnails, or at least decrease the size so they don't take as long to unfold into their full glory.

6. Broken links don't increase your popularity. Who likes seeing that '404 File Not Found' on their screen? CHECK YOUR LINKS before launching your site.

7. If you need to add music to your site, please have an off switch. That someone will share your taste in music isn't always going to be the case. During the weeks before Christmas how many sites did we come upon that played various versions of "Jingle Bells" and other carols? While music can enhance a site, it can also detract from it. I came upon the most appalling example of what a web site shouldn't contain some months ago. The blaring techno music was so relentless that I immediately searched for the off button. I never found it. I was next visually assaulted with a growing font that looked like it was going to jump out of my computer. Instead, it froze. The screen, now almost completely lime green with font, had just enough space for me to read the words: "...will design a site like this for you." As my speakers were SQUEALING from the stuck music and the monitor displaying that parody, I shut my computer off. Enough said?

8. Update your site periodically. Signs like 'last updated 1998' give clues to the surfer that this is a cobweb. The more you freshen your contents, the more likely your site is to remain fresh in people's minds. Plus it helps your rankings in the search engines.

Hope you have fun designing your web page. It's your way to show off what you know.



About the Author
For more information about Lisa Maliga's writing,onsite newsletter, unique bath & body recipes and various other topics, visit Lisa's Library of Writing at http://www.lisamaliga.com.