Techie Knick Knacks

Ask the Tech- Marc Everlove, Director of Information Technologies: When in doubt, Seek a Geek© Question: "What are some of the dos & don'ts of web design?" -Alex Answer: Aside from the fact that "there's no accounting for taste" there are many elements that separate a great website from a mediocre site, and a mediocre site from a what-the-heck-were-you-thinking site... If you are doing your own website it is easy to give in to the temptation to show off and fill your website up with flashing animations, music, scrolling banners and whatever else you can get in there... All of this on a high contrast and intricate background. It may be best to purchase an inexpensive template and customize it rather than attempt to design the whole thing from scratch. Take a look at Template Monster. They retire sites after 10 copies are sold. I have had some good experiences with them. I should mention that I am an affiliate, however, it is the best of it's class in my never humble opinion. In any case, here are a few tips to keep in mind when designing your site. SPELLCHECK IS YOUR FRIEND!! When you are ready to publish, have some one else proofread it also. Keep your content clean, uncluttered and easy to read. Make sure your text is legible. If you have a dark background, use a light font color, if a light background, then use a dark font color. For instance: this is difficult to read. Stay away from using images or "busy" backgrounds in areas where you are planning to have text. It will make the text very difficult to read. Take the time to make the navigation as easy to use as possible. Keep banners and advertising to a minimum. If you would like to include some advertising to your site, try Google AdSense®. It is the standard to match. Text ads don't generally detract from the look and feel of your site, and they produce results! You can here! When designing your navigation, make it as simple as possible. Try not to make visitors think to much. Avoid really "deep" navigation schemes. If a visitor can not reach a resource within 3 clicks, rethink your nav. If you have a form on your site, try to keep it basic. The less information you require, the more likely a visitor will spend the time and effort filling it out. Use Flash and animations sparingly. Less is more here. Use PDFs sparingly and only for large multi page documents. Adobe Acrobat takes time to load and the interface is different from that of their browser therefore, detracts from the flow of their surfing... If you are color coordination challenged like me, then try colr.org. It can help you pick out an outstanding & professional color scheme. Keep information and links current... If you build it, they will come... Uhhh, no. If you build it and put it out there, DO NOT make the mistake of believing that the teaming masses are just waiting by the computer to go to your site. You must put it out there. I recommend the Google AdWords® program. This is the other side of the program AdSense® program I mentioned earlier. Just take a look at this link to This is just a quick list. There are many more tips, but you will have to wait for my upcoming classes at SBAOR. Good Luck and e-mail me to have your question answered! All information contained in the article is the opinion of the author and is offered for use with your discretion and without warranty of any kind. Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of The South Bay Association of REALTORS® or its affiliates. Written By: Marc Everlove All rights reserved. Marc Everlove has affiliations with Template Monster and Google.