Although there are many classifications for websites, eg entertainment, etc, websites usually fall within two main categories:
Informational
Ecommerce
A good informational website design has two main objectives:
Attract many visitors to the website
Easily find or locate relevant and accurate information
And a good e-commerce website design has two main objectives:
Attract many visitors to the website
Convert visitors to customers
You might have noticed good website designs have two objectives in common. That is to attract a large number of visitors. There are two main ways to attract visitors to your web site:
Paid Advertisement
Ranking high on search engine placement
Anyone can pay for advertisement, assuming they have enough money. What is not easy, is to get ranked high on the most popular search engines. Although there are many criteria used by search engines to determine a web sites position, there are two main factors:
Content
Links
Informational sites can have thousands of pages. A good website design requires quick and easy navigation to the relevant information. For an ecommerce site, it is conversion from visitor to customer. In both cases, a customer will leave right away, without so much as trying to determine if you have what they want, eg information or product, if your website design is not pleasing to the eye. If the site looks old or tired, or the design does not fit the site objectives, eg business like, professional, aesthetically pleasing, etc.
Some Basic Principals for a good website design
Don't search on Goggle and just snatch whatever image you happen to come across that fits your theme. Why?
It's also known as stealing.
Copyright Violation.
Bad P/R for your business to be caught using another person's work.
Likely to land you in court with legal bills a large fine.
Instead:
Create your own graphics
Hire someone to create your graphics
Always assume that any work not created by you or someone you hired, is subject to copyright and thus cannot be used.
Send certified mail /email to the owner of the copyrighted image and request permission to use the work. Be specific, describe the artwork in painful detail, how the work will be used. Be certain to save all correspondence even if request to use work is denied, and especially if they approve the use of the work.
Don't take small pictures and click and drag them to make them larger.
Making it bigger, does not make it better.
Pixilates the picture (makes it appear blocky)
Presents an unprofessional appearance
Instead:
Create or have the image created slightly larger than you anticipate needing, then adjust the Image size in an editor such as Photoshop. You'll maintain the image quality that way.
If using your images on the web, compress them before uploading the image.
Uncompressed images will cause your visitors to leave before the page is loaded. If each visitor is important to you, all images need to be compressed for the web.
Instead:
Use Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and other image editors which have options to do this for you.
Most Graphic Designers will keep both versions in the event something needs to be changed.
Don't overpower customers with your logo.
Sure you think it's great, but showing it 5 times on the page is a bit much.
Don't make it HUGE.
Instead:
Keep it small.
Look at a lot of successful ecommerce sites; Amazon.com has a logo that is 148x43px, Ebay's logo is 171x78 - relatively small. Their customers want the meat of the site, not to look at a 600x800 image.
Don't use animated images.
This doesn't refer to all animation, but rather the kind that cycles non stop. They are annoying, distracting and give you an unprofessional appearance.
Larger files sizes increase the time it takes to load your entire page.
Instead:
Keep animation as a minimum. Cycle the animation, if you must have it, only twice.
Use flash or swish for banners or images in lieu of traditional images (gif's).
A web design will fall within one of several categories and is the basis for the look and feel of the web design. The following categories will define the objectives of your web design:
CORPORATE Designing for the conservative, corporate market means the site must be professional, clean looking, well organized and descriptive. Designers produce a unique approach to their corporate projects while integrating in the company image. The design approach will be different from small business to large corporations. The fonts are usually smaller, classic, and conservative.
Questions Who is your audience? Are they conservative? What's the key message you want to communicate? What is your company's mission and what are its marketing strategies? What can you do to spice up the design without overstepping boundaries?
ELEGANT In today's society, elegance in design often seeks to convey wealth or refined beauty. Serif fonts are popular, and some commonly used colors include royal shades of ruby, emerald and sapphire. Your target audience is likely in the middle class or aspires to be part of it. This graceful design evokes a sense of perfection that almost everyone desires.
Questions Does your audience tend to be upper-middle class? Will the message work well with a design that's dignified? What is the age of your audience? (different colors speak to different age groups)
INNOVATIVE Innovative usually means that your design has a look that's never been done before. Innovative design is revolutionary in it typographic treatments, unusual color usage and/or special production techniques. Many times but not always innovation costs, so be prepared to pay extra.
Questions Does your business set trends? How do you want to convey this in your design? Does your audience tend to be attracted to cutting-edge products and services? Can you afford (financially and professionally) to try new things?
POWERFUL Powerful design comes in two classes: gut-punching, knockout design, or quietly authoritative design. The message is the most important element. If you're not a wizard with words, hire a great copywriter and don't embellish. A well-designed piece with strong copy will be enough to send the message.
Questions In one sentence or just a few words, what's your message? What's the mood you want to set with this message? What action do you want your audience to take? How should the design call them to action?
RETRO The retro style captures the essence of a past time or place, but gives it a new spin. When creating a retro look, reminisce with the audience about a past that brings back fond memories, then add your own twist. Tip: Go to the library and do your homework. Misunderstanding the era can lead to an ineffective and possibly offensive design.
Questions On what era do you want to focus? What new perspective? What new perspective can you bring to the design? How old is your target audience? Define and characterize them as clearly as possible. Why do you want to be associated with qualities from the past? Are you celebrating classics or touching on a history that your audience strongly identifies with?
YOUTHFUL Youthful design isn't necessarily targeted toward children, but suggests a child's carefree view of life by using bright colors and fun, playful typography. The goal of this design is to take the audience back to an age of innocence, a time when stress was a quickly melting ice cream cone. Tip: Bring crayons and paper to the first client meeting so that the client and the designer can revert to childhood. Synonymous with: active, adolescent, childlike, vigorous, young, awkward, innocent.
Questions Do you want the audience to feel like your design is fun-loving and whimsical? Get out some old family photo albums. Which pictures make you smile? Why? What time period in the life are you trying to evoke? What are your favorite memories from that time in your own life?
UNUSUAL Unusual design often has an element of the bizarre that makes it memorable. Usually the first of its kind, this style will either hit it big and be embraced for its rareness (it might even be mimicked or copied) or it will be rejected for being too strange. Either way, this style grabs attention.
Questions How unusual can you afford to be? How much creative license does the designer have? Review some firsts that made it big, and others that bombed. (Try Genius Moves by Steven Heller for a historical collection of innovative designs that set trends.)
