Hints & Tips no.4
The following may seem quite obvious, but many sites fall down in one or other of these areas:
Legibility – make sure the text is easy to read. There should be good contrast between the font and the background but avoid bright text on a dark background. Also avoid using a text size that is too small or too large; keep the larger text sizes for headings and sub-headings.
Readability – remember that reading from a screen is not as easy as reading from paper and it is widely acknowledged that people scan rather than read web pages. Web content needs to be brief and punchy. Use bullet points to make the content easy to scan and remember that it should be written for the reader not the writer!
Emphasis – make sure your keywords stand out by using bold, italics or a different colour but not underlined as this causes confusion with hyperlinks. Use headings and sub-headings so that the reader is well signposted on the page.
Appearance – white space is important, too much text is off-putting to the reader.
Check the content – spell check and proof read to make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors, both of which make a site look unprofessional.
These are just a kew key pointers to making website content more appealing, but why not apply them to websites you look at and you will soon realise how many of them could benefit from following a few basic tips.
