The most important thing in a website design is to ensure that it does what it was designed to do. It is a huge mistake to assume the belief those visitors needs to be entertained with fancy flash works which usually requires long loading time, when the truth is exactly the opposite.

Here are five important website design rules of thumb to observe which should ensure your website performs well.

1) Splash pages should not be included

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. These are elaborately fancy pages with lavish designs and images along with words such as ‘welcome to our website’ usually, they are pages of elaborate graphics that includes words such as ‘welcome’ or ‘click here to enter the site’. In fact, they are just a ‘pretty vase’ that serves no real purpose. This page serves a good purpose to entertain but if website conversion is your goal, it can be a big barrier for you to achieve your goals.

2) Always keep banner advertisements at a minimum level

Although these can be at the foot of a web page, adverts like this are primarily placed right at the top of the page in what is called the ‘header’. Adding banner ads are actually futile efforts to maximize the use of your website as space research shows that people tend to ignore such advertisements. There is a better way to add contents instead of using banner is by giving them useful information and then add their affiliate links so that they would seem natural.

3) Keep all navigations simple

Navigation should be made very simple so that even a young child can understand. It is good to leave out any fancy flash menus or even multi-tiered drop down menus, they only serve to make navigating the site harder. Remember, if users find it hard to navigate, they will leave very soon after landing on your home page. Your website design should include the construction a sitemap that will make it easy for them to find what they want.

4) Don’t let your visitors feel as if they are lost

When you have successfully captured their attention and enjoying the whole experience perusing your website, you will want to make them know where they are at the moment without feeling lost.

This way, they can head to the right information they are looking for. You can get this done easily by making sure that every page has its own title and each links that has been visited must be visible in different colors form the ones that are fresh. Remember, any form of ambiguity or confusion will drive your hard earned visitors away.

5) Do consider the need to include audio in you website

If you want your visitors to stay a long time and read the contents, do not irritate em with your audio. If sound is used, do not let it play over and over again. Adding audios may seem cool but provide some form of user control such as muting ability or volume control so that your visitors can adjust accordingly. When you use all this website design information, you will find that your visitors will return again and again to your site.

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