Many League members have a Web site these days and whether you build it yourself or pay professionals, it’s good to know some of the basics that constitute a well-designed page. Some writers love words but hate messing with design and layout but others find a pleasant satisfaction in combining the two skills. There are dozens of books on this subject for those who want to know more. You should be able to easily find one that fits your needs and skill level.
The first and most important thing to consider in designing a Web site is what is its purpose? Why do you think visitors will go there? For example, self-published authors might use Web sites for online sales and promotion. You could include background material that establishes your expertise in the area of your book, but leave out all non-relevant personal bits. The core message of a self-published author’s site might be something like - I’m an expert in this subject so buy this book. Established fiction authors may treat their sites as a fan-oriented newsletter. You could present pictures of your children and pets or perhaps add some personal stories about how you wrote your best-seller. The core message of this type of site might be - come join me for a little visit in my virtual home.
Regardless of its purpose, a good Web site should be easy to navigate. Web navigation refers to a visitor’s ability to move around on the site from page to page. Nothing is more frustrating than to explore a potentially interesting Internet site that’s badly designed, one where things are difficult to locate. The cure for this is a first page or index page that shows visitors what’s on the site and how to get to it. Links should be clearly marked as links and the page that they link to should be obvious. I’ve seen sites where the hyperlinks were so well hidden inside graphics or text that I had to spend several minutes decrypting their location before I could use them. I’ve also seen links that kept me guessing as to what would happen if I clicked them. It’s a simple formula, if you want people to enjoy your site tell them what’s there and how to reach it.
Another important design consideration is download time. Visitors without one of the fast Internet services may not be able to easily open pages that contain lots of animation or graphics. That may be fine if your intended audience will only be technogeeks who are certain to own the very latest hardware and to use only the fastest provider lines. For the rest of the world, it’s safer to design for lower-end equipment and slower downloads. If you really want to offer a large download of some sort, warn people beforehand that it could require a large chunk of time on slower machines or connections. Let your visitors decide for themselves whether they’re willing to commit to the wait. Do it before they click the link in question rather than have them become frustrated as unexpected and massive downloads grind their computers to a halt.
Most other Web design considerations are very similar to those for traditional paper pages. There are real differences between paper and online, so you don’t just copy one type to the other, but things like style and readability are equally important in both. You don’t need a degree in desktop publishing to recognize unreadable Web pages. Keep design in mind as you surf the Internet. Copy the sites you like and avoid doing what the bad ones do. If in doubt about a particular idea, ask friends to critique what you’ve made.
There is one technical problem for which there is no easy solution. Each Internet browser will interpret the same HTML tag in slightly different ways. This can be a disaster if you design Web pages with very precise layouts that won’t look right unless they’re displayed exactly the same on all browsers. Some Web designers go so far as to create a different layout for the two main browsers, Netscape and Internet Explorer, but that’s becoming increasingly less effective as the number of other popular browsers increases. Today you need to deal with the above two, a common European browser called Opera, AOL’s subscriber browser, and Microsoft Network’s subscriber browser. The simplest solution to the current browser chaos is to design down, that is, stick to simple flexible layouts that will look fine under a variety of display settings.
Don’t forget that creating a Web page is only the beginning of the project. If you want people to come back, you have to change the content now and then.