how to get a great website

How to Get a Great Website

Matt KulianiITRE

October 22, 2015

What You Will Learn

• Website design terminology• Elements of a great website• How to make a great website

(without becoming a computer nerd)

Website Experience?

• Can use Google?• Uses online banking or is active in social media?• Has a personal website?• Has built a webpage?• Knows what WWW stands for?• HTML?• HTTP?

• Can spot the error in this HTML code?

<a href=“..\photos.php”>Photos</a>

Website Design Terminology

• Website vs webpage• Graphics vs photos• Copy• Flash• Javascript• HTML5

• URL vs web address• Host• SEO• Site map vs breadcrumbs• Cross-platform compatibility• Resolution vs Responsiveness

Website vs Webpage

• A website is made of many webpages.

Webpage Website

Graphics vs Photos

• A graphic is any non-text, visual thing• A photo is literally a photograph taken by a camera

Graphic Photo

Copy

• The text written to be shown in marketing materials• A website is a marketing material

Flash

• Refers to Adobe Flash• Plugin to browsers• Allows interesting/complicated animations and programming• Resource-intensive (a lot makes the page slow)

Javascript

• A programming language only for webpages• Not resource-intensive like Flash• Requires much more coding ability

HTML5

• The 5 is the version of HTML• Refers to the addition of• Video-playing• Sounds• Animations

• … without the need for coding expertise or a browser plugin

URL vs Web Address

• URL = Uniform Resource Location• Web Address = URL• Slang, everyone’s familiar with the term “address”

Host

• The company/location where the website data is stored• Like the host of a house party• Provides nice services to their guests/clients• Keeps things secure• Cleans up after them• Makes sure the guest/client has a good time

SEO

• SEO = Search Engine Optimization• Better SEO on a site = Better

visibility on a search engine

Site Map vs Breadcrumbs

• Site map is the outline of the site• Directory structure• Good for static sites• Similar to looking for a file

• Breadcrumbs are links that allow quick navigation to a higher level

Cross-Platform Compatibility

• Web browsers do NOT act the same• Keeps the site usable on any browser• Very important• Not as difficult as it used to be

Resolution vs Responsiveness

• Resolution = minimum monitor resolution required to view the page• Example: Google Images (https://www.google.com/imghp)

• Responsiveness = uses HTML5 to make the page viewable at any resolution• Example: NCSU (https://www.ncsu.edu/)

Elements of a Great Website

• Appearance• Content• Functionality• Usability

Appearance

• Color• Text• Graphics• Photography• Simplicity

Appearance - Color

• Bad colors are offensive and will quickly give the audience wrong assumptions• Good colors can give satisfactory/positive emotions toward

the brand

Appearance - Text

• Colors – again, don’t be offensive to the eyes• Fonts• Stay reasonably uniform• No exotic fonts• Be either deliberately artsy and not readable or deliberately plain and

very readable

Appearance - Graphics

• Too many graphics will overload the user• Not enough graphics will bore the user

Appearance - Photography

• Always opt for high quality• Today’s monitors and screens can easily show high definition• It is “expected” that high quality photos will be available to

view if low quality ones are in small sizes• Real cameras are still better than phone cameras• Honestly, not a big problem for Vision Zero

Appearance - Simplicity

Content

• Copy• Clearly label• Break into small paragraphs• Don’t overwhelm with text

• Updated content• No one will repeat if it’s always the same

• “You”• Use “you” as much as possible• Minimize “I”, “we”, and “us”

• Flashy stuff• Use the cool stuff appropriately• Be like James Bond – simple fashion with

really cool toys• Don’t be like a 1970’s pimp

Functionality

• It ALL works• Poor website construction leaves a user frustrated

• No typos• Double check facts and figures• Spelling mistakes and bad grammar are unforgivable for something so

professional

Usability

• Simplicity• Valuable content• Good organization• Attractive Design

• Fast-loading• Most users anger after 2 seconds, abandon after

4• Scrolling

• Don’t require scrolling when unnecessary• Don’t make a page so long that the user stops

using the scroll wheel• Layout

• Consistent and organized• Extremely important

• Navigation• Menu on top or the sides• Menus should be simple and quick to navigate• Don’t make the users hunt

• Cross-platform compatibility• Responsiveness

How to Make a Great Website

• Hire someone with technical expertise• Hire someone with design expertise• Feedback• Feedback

•Feedback

How to Give Good Feedback

• Get educated (done!)• Be descriptive• Be precise• Go with your gut

Examples

• I don’t like the colors, too girly• The menu is too big, make it smaller• We shouldn’t use Flash on the site• Make it simpler to use

• I don’t like the pink, it makes me feel

like our brand is too girly• The menu is too long going down the

page, let’s make it shorter• We shouldn’t use Flash, instead use an

HTML5 players for the video• Remove A, B, and C and let’s see if

that helps simplify things because they aren’t needed on that page

Bad Good

Practice

• This presentation design• Good?• Bad?