| Much like the headquarters of an offline company, | | | | Your website should also comply to the web |
| your website acts as the headquarters and hub for | | | | standards at and should always be cross-browser |
| your online business. Not only visitors, but all | | | | compatible. During your website design, make sure to |
| transactions and everything related to your online | | | | test your website on as many different browsers as |
| business goes through your website. In order to get | | | | you have available. Some web browsers read code |
| the most from your site, it is important to follow the | | | | differently, and this can cause an unnecessary |
| best practices for website design. | | | | inconvenience for the visitor. Just because your site |
| Make sure you have clear and simple navigation on | | | | looks great on Internet Explorer does not mean it will |
| your website. Navigation menus should be | | | | look as good on Firefox or Opera. |
| uncluttered, easy to maneuver and understand, and | | | | Avoid using any scripting languages unless there is a |
| should be free of excess text or Flash. | | | | specific reason to do so. Scripting languages can |
| It is best to limit the use of images on your website. | | | | cause several problems, including problems loading on |
| Superflous images on your website may cause your | | | | some computers. Heavy scripting is not always |
| site to load slowly and become an annoyance for | | | | supported across browsers. Scripting can also create |
| visitors. Visitors on slower modems will be especially | | | | a more hectic experience, since visual effects can be |
| frustrated if you are using large images that take up | | | | both distracting and a burden on loading time. It is a |
| a lot of bandwidth. In website design, it is a best | | | | best practice for website design to stay away from |
| practice to reduce anything that detracts from the | | | | any programming that may cause any problems to |
| content of your site, and too many images on your | | | | your visitors. |
| website can be a distraction. | | | | Finally, it is a good idea to use a CSS to style your |
| Keep each paragraph of text at a reasonable length. | | | | page. This saves you time and effort because it will |
| Paragraphs with too much text are difficult to read, | | | | style your entire site at once, rather than you having |
| and your visitors may feel as though they are not | | | | to type in the coding for each paragraph. It also |
| progressing through your website. The best practice | | | | ensures that the website is kept simple, clean, and |
| is to keep short, well formed paragraphs that are to | | | | consistent, which creates a better user experience. |
| the point and devoid of excess information. | | | | |