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Ensure Your Page is Consistent With the Overall Design of the Site

Web designers often refer to the importance of a consistent “look and feel.” A design that is consistent across all the pages on a site helps readers associate a particular design style with a site. This familiarizes them with the placement of navigation tools, types of information, and other material that the Web site’s designers want them to find.

Because one Web page is usually as easy to visit as another, you should avoid different designs on the pages of a given Web site. Different page designs can lead readers to think they’ve left one site and jumped to another. If you need to differentiate your page from others on the site, use subtle variations in its overall design, such as differences in color or the placement of text or media elements on the page. Keep the following principles in mind as you design your page:

Simple is better. Less is more. Don’t try to cram too much on a single page.
Keep important information on the screen. Readers often jump to another Web page if they don’t find what they’re looking for on the screen. Although it’s relatively easy to scroll down a page, few readers are willing to scroll down more than one screen to find the information they’re seeking.
Avoid overuse of graphics. Large images can increase load time — or the time it takes for a browser to open a Web page. More important, research suggests that readers of Web pages are drawn to textual information as opposed to graphical information — a behavior that is strikingly different from readers’ typical behavior with print documents. Perhaps because so many Web sites use images largely as decoration rather than as sources of information (for example, news photographs, diagrams, and charts), readers typically look first at text on a Web page.

As you begin to design your page, browse the Web for pages that attempt to accomplish a purpose similar to your own. Evaluate their page designs, making note of features and layouts that you might want to use.