When you set out to write a Web page, you might think that you don't need to consider the style of the pages, but maintaining a style guide from the very beginning of your project will insure that it is easy for you to re-edit in the future or for someone else to take over for you. This style guide is intended to help you create a Web site that looks the way you want it to look, and is easy to maintain and use.
Server Basics and Housekeeping
- Always provide a way to contact you. Firstly, if you've taken the time to write a Web page, you should be proud enough of your work to tell people who wrote it. Secondly, you should give your readers a way to contact you, so that they can verify facts or just start a conversation. Mind you, I'm not advocating that you pur yourself in any danger from viruses or anything else, but contact information is a requirement for Web pages in this style guide.
- Explain your site on the home page. Splash pages are often very popular, but they tell your readers nearly nothing about what they're going to get on your site. Make sure that your site home page explains the purpose of the site so that newcomers won't be confused.
- Make sure your URL is useful. Sometimes you can end up with a really long URL that is hard to type in or figure out, this is fine for shopping pages, but not so good for your home page. Home page URLs should be short and to the point.
Site Structure and Organization
- The first thing you should think about when designing a site is the site navigation. The best navigation is based on something that people are already familiar with, such as chapters in a book or a timetable in a bus station and so on. Once you've got your navigation, stick to it throughout the entire site.
- Keep your pages small. Any one page should be no larger than 50KB including all images, and my recommendation is to keep the page download size to 20KB or less per page, including all images and downloadable elements.
- Keep your images small. Similar to the above guide, your images and any other items that are downloaded on your Web page (like Flash, JavaScript, CSS, etc.) should be kept small so they download quickly.
The Pages Themselves
- Make your titles meaningful. The title is used on the page, in search engines, and in bookmarks. And if the title is too "cute" or unclear people won't click on them.
- Write for all browsers. While it may be tempting to write Web pages that support specific browser tricks you're only hurting yourself and your site. Browsers go in and out of fashion, and if your site is written for a specific browser, it will only be usable as long as that browser is popular.
- Use valid HTML. This way, Web browsers will be able to view your site no matter who they are.
- Use CSS. Style sheets make it easier to maintain the look of your site, and change it when you want to.
- Keep your pages printable, or create a printer friendly version.
The Page Text
- Write clear, concise text.
- Use bullets instead of paragraphs, and keep those bullets short.
- Write one idea per paragraph.
- Use words sparingly. People don't read Web pages, they skim. So the more skimmable your content is, the better.
Links
- Keep links brief and meaningful.
- Don't write click here. Make the link part of the readable text.
