What make a good website?

Good web sites:

-know their audience's demographics, in both socioeconomics and technology
-include the organization's name on every page
-use a consistent design throughout
-locate navigation aids at the top of each page
-offer quality content
-date and sign each page
-use proper spelling and grammar
-include a feedback mechanism
-load quickly
-put the "meat" of their pages in the first one or two screens
-use special effects only if they add value
-have working links
-build user loyalty

Know your audience

Good web sites know their users. You can't put users' needs first if you don't know who your -users are. You need to know more than the usual socioeconomics (age, gender, economic statu-s, occupation, etc.). You need to know their technology as well. How are they connected to the -Internet? What browser, and what version of that browser, are they most likely using? What about monitor size, resolution and color support?
A professor designing web pages for students who access them through a high-speed connection in a campus lab with known equipment has far fewer restrictions than does a county extension office designing pages for the public using unknown browsers and monitors, 28.8 and or slower modems.

Users' basic questions

Good web sites include the organization's identity on all pages. Surfers have four basic questions when they connect to a web page: "Where am I? Where do I want to go? Am I on the right path? Am I there yet?" (Bachiochi et al.) We have all seen pages that don't answer even the most important question ("Where am I?"), let alone the other three. Most users rely on web search engines to find things (Holman), and come into a page directly off a list of search results. They may have no clue where they are unless your page explicitly tells them!
Good web sites use a consistent layout and locate navigation aids at the top of their pages. A consistent layout builds site identity in the mind of the user. It also helps them visualize your site's structure. Users prefer navigation aids (buttons or text links) at the top of pages (Bachiochi).
If you have a web site, do your users a favor. Look at each and every page as an outsider and ask yourself the four basic questions listed above.

Content remains king

Good web sites answer users' questions and problems. Most web users connect to the web to find information, not to look at twirling logos. Content should be accurate, timely, concise and easy to find.

Good web sites are dated and signed. There's a lot of wrong, misleading, incomplete, outdated and undated material on the web. Reassure your users that the information you have is current by dating it. Reassure them that you stand behind it by putting your and your organization's names to it. Promptly remove outdated information.

Good web sites use proper spelling and grammar. The web is rife with poor writing and worse spelling. Bad spelling and grammar detract from users' perception of the validity of your pages and lead them to question your commitment to accuracy and quality. If writing is not your forte, get someone who is good at it to edit or proof your pages for you.

Good web sites include a contact. Encourage your users to contact you for more information or with comments and suggestions about your site. Include a contact name or title ("webmaster" for example), and at a minimum an e-mail address, and preferably the complete address, phone and fax. Then respond promptly to user inquiries.

Page design

Designing for the web is very different than designing for print. Unlike the printed page, users control much of a web page's appearance. They can turn graphics off. They can reduce or enlarge the font size. They can reduce the viewing area. You don't know what size or resolution monitor they have. You don't know what browser they're using, and thus what html features they can see. Screen display is poorer than print publications, so high resolution graphics are wasted. It is harder to read text on screen and users are more prone to scan and skip about. You need to consider all of these factors, and more, in web design.

Good web sites load quickly. Users are impatient beasts. Most users are willing to wait 10 to 15 seconds for a page to download, but not much more unless it's a page they really want. (When was the last time it took you 10 or 15 seconds to turn a printed page over?) Slow download time is the number one complaint of users.

Good web sites present their meat in the first one or two screens. Users don't like to scroll. As few as 10 percent of users scroll past what they see on the initial screen (Nielsen, May 1996). Make the top part of your page count. Many users will decide whether to stay or to leave based on what they see when the page first loads.

Good web sites use special effects only if they add value. This includes large image maps, busy background images, scrolling marquees or text, frames, changing link colors, and animation. Remember your target audience: what adds value for 12-year-olds is different than what adds value for their parents or grandparents. Animation is especially distracting, and frames make navigation cumbersome. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.
Working links

On a good web site, all the links work. Sure, there are days when a remote site might be down or busy, preventing a link from working at any particular moment. But all the links within your site should work all the time. Test links to remote sites regularly to make sure they are still valid, and if they're not, fix them promptly.

Build loyalty

A good web site is one that users come back to again and again. Bookmarks are used by 83 percent of surfers to revisit favorite sites, according to one survey (Holman). Another reported that 57 percent of users visit the same group of sites regularly. Over half visit a new site based on friends' recommendations