Top do's and don't for websites

[bob carnie]

great thread
I am currently in the process of getting a personal photography site done and this thread has a lot of very good points to consider.

[jdc]

good luck Bob. I'm sure it will be an excellent site.

[Randy H]

BUT the additional benefit of alt tags is that it helps your site increase its seach indexing and relevance rankings by allowing more text to be presented in your site.

Some "web crawlers" and "spiders" list relevance of search by number of times a particular "subject" is mentioned and/or linked to the site. For instance, in the meta tag, you may mention "LFPF", but if it isn't listed anywhere else in the site, then the search engines will not list it very high in the search results. However, if there are several links, and back-links to "LFPF" and your "alt" tags mention it, then it will pick up on it's relevance quicker, and increase it chances of getting higher up in the listings. BUT, be careful of what you put in the meta tags and alt tags. The newer browsers and their "filtering" can kill your site pretty damn quickly if you use the wrong wording. Or you will end up with a lot of traffic that you "don't" want, and none that you do.

[CG]

My ten - if one needs to make it a round ten - rules for sites specific to artists / photographers who do not need to look like tech geeks. People who need to wow people with their painfully esoteric tech savvy would do well to ignore most of my list

1. The first page MUST load fast. You'll lose fewer users. Assume they all have sucky connections.
2. Simple fast navigation. You'll lose fewer users. That means links have underlines. It means everything that one needs to do basic site navigation looks like a navigation device. Either it's a button that looks like a button, or it's a link that looks like a link. All that can be supplimented with further things that assist in navigation like clickable images, your logo that takes you back to home page etc., but every page should be designed with a friendly approach to the user. Active navigation devices the resopnd when the mouse pointer is over them are a plus. They indicate that the button or link is not just text. Simple fast navigation means using thumbnail sized image files where possible.
3. No Flash - No Java - Stay with simple css / html code. You'll have more users stay on your site. Many computers load fancy code wrong or unpredictably.
4. No Splash pages that say "click here to enter site" Those just piss too many people off. I just can't put it more politely. They are the kiss of death and amateurish. You should be immediately feel like you are at the heart of the site when you get there.
5. Readable text - ie the smaller the text, the more background contrast it needs. Readability is really important! Headlines in huge type can have much lower contrast, but body copy should be crisp and contrasty and not too small. Corollary, don't use weird, hard to parse typefaces for anything but a truly ultraa youth audience.
6. Max out browser compatibility. Test your site her and with friends. It can be frustrating when someone says the site sucks, (it's happened to me! Uggh.) but you will be better off fore it. You'll lose fewer users.
7. Easy navigation between your images.
8. Every page on the site has easy to find button to get you to Home Page. Don't strand users in dead end pages. It's surprising how many sites have pages that have no way back home. Use a template with all the buttons for every page unless there's a really good reason not to with a particular page.
9. Navigation and user experience should be so standard that the highly computer challenged can use the site without any coaching whatsoever. THey are definitely out there. I have friends who literally are email challenged. You'll lose fewer users if you accomodate the slowwe ones. One of the least attractive aspects of many sites is what I call user hostility. Don't abuse the user.
10. Keep it professional looking. That means no flashing text, no poorly written blurbs, it means showing your ten or fifteen best photographs rather than the so so hundred and fifty. Leave them wanting more.

[QT Luong]

In the end, it is just a matter of perception and priorities. What we are discussing here is essentially the zone system vs. p&s of web design, to put it in photographic terms. Yes, you will end up with a "usable photo" of your subject either way, "only" the quality will be different.

I always thought LF photographers would naturally grasp the concept and importance of standards compatibility and modularity of design, but ironically, they seem to care the least.

Some find that using the ZS helps them produce work that matches more consistently their vision, some do not use the ZS and produce equality excellent work. Using modern standards does relatively little to improve your website. If you already have one, it is not clear if the time spent to learn CSS wouldn't be better used for other things, like for example adding contents.

[jdc]

This is the point. The user doesn't care if you used an H1, P with special style atribs or a FONT tag for headers. They will care if it does not have the content they are looking for, and the function/delivery/presentation that they understand and or can appreciate. I've yet to meet a non-geek who views the source to find out what the DTD is or whether or not tables were used.

From a best practice stand point using the technology appropriately is a good thing and something that any coder worth his/her salt will do. From a design stand point rules are important, but there are times when they are best broken.

[cyrus]

This is the point. The user doesn't care if you used an H1, P with special style atribs or a FONT tag for headers. .

Very true but the idea is that the user will find it a lot easier to use a site that it properly designed & properly using H1, P etc makes a site faster, lighter, more compatible with different browsers etc. Anyway, in my original list, I intentionally did not address the geeky HTML stuff.

[jdc]

Yes it appears we are going over the same points again and again.

For good design commarts.com's site of the week (SOW) and especially their archive is a good place to see some nice work.

For design and planning webmonkey has a pretty good tutorial.

For things to avoid this thread seems to be pretty good, but first and foremost I would ask opinion of the intended audience.

As is often the case the best advise is to hire a professional.

[Marko]

... it is not clear if the time spent to learn CSS wouldn't be better used for other things, like for example adding contents.

I've yet to meet a non-geek who views the source to find out what the DTD is or whether or not tables were used.

Yes it appears we are going over the same points again and again.

Actually, it appears we are still talking about two very different topics - best web design practices on one hand and cheap DIY websites on the other. I stand by my earlier comparison of product photos taken by a professional photographer on one hand and boss's secretary on the other. Each would naturally pick the tools they can understand and control and hence produce the results in line with their corresponding skill levels.

While one could easily argue that the photos taken by a pro would be clearly and obviously better, a counter argument could always be made that hiring a pro is too expensive and that it simply would be neither possible nor practicable to train the secretary to do it using pro tools, hence the p&s is "good enough".

Following the logic from this thread, the counter argument would be a very successful one, because the majority of users would not know nor woud they care how the photos they are looking at were created.

The irony is that both points of view could actually be valid and choices based on them correct, each for its own intended audience.

[cyrus]

Guys - I'm sensing a build up of defensiveness and resentmetn here about using web standards. Like I said, you are perfectly fine in using tables but you just may want to consider getting up to date with the CSS stuff for its added benefits. It's nothing personal - just a good idea to consider.

BTW QT - you have an enormous number of photos on your site Have you considering implementing a system where people can subscribe to your site and be informed everytime there's a new photo posted? I think it can be arranged to send a little thumbnail by email to subscribers. It would be cool if I for example get a email on my pda that has one of your shots as a background.