Web Design Do’s and Don'ts

Don't use too many colors in your web site:

Color is a way for people to identify things; that is why the Coke label is dominantly red and the Pepsi label is dominantly blue. Keep the color scheme of your web site limited to a couple of colors and keep it consistent across your site unless you want to denote some major section.

Don't have more than a few words in a bold case:

Nonetheless it is still valid for the same reasons in that the text is harder to read, and then loses its point. Remember that setting text bold, italic, or in CAPITALS are all ways to bring attention to the particular words, but if you're making everything the same, it loses its impact.

Don't set your type to all capital letters in your body text:

Using ALL CAPS in text is good for emphasize and title elements, but don't create long sentences or paragraphs in all caps ... it's just hard to read.

Don't have more than a few words in italics:

Italics are one way to draw attention to text, but it makes text harder to read. Using italics for one or two words on occasion is good, but if you go crazy and start using italicized text all over the place, or for long sentences or paragraphs then you’re looking for trouble!

Do end your URLs with a forward slash in your links:

Okay, this point is a touch nerdy so bare with me ... this little point will help speed up things a little as far as your user is concerned. If you have a URL (web address) that does not specify an exact page, then you want to trail the URL with a forward slash.

Don't use busy backgrounds on your pages:

This will cause your browser to tile the image across the web page.

Don't use background music on your web pages!

Some web designers like the idea of a little background music to set the mood of the page. In special cases like say an MTV or Disney website, this can work. But for most websites this is just a bad idea for a few reasons.

Don't center everything on your web pages:

Centered text on pages is just hard to read; just think about having to read a book where all the text was centered!

No page counters:

Page counters do nothing except make you look like an amateur.

Forget blinking or flashing text:

The only place you see blinking and or flashing text is on the neon signs of naked bars or web sites made in the mid 90's!

Avoid using black backgrounds:

It is always better to have your text black on white; darker backgrounds are hard to read and hurts the eyes.