Keep It Small and Simple
By: John Vinson
When it comes to browsing around the internet, it’s all about speed. When someone sits down at their computer, all they are thinking about most of the time is finding what they want, as fast as they possibly can. So when one of these internet surfers comes by your site, you want to make sure that it loads promptly. Once it loads you want to make sure that the site can quickly be navigated around.
In terms of loading speed, what you will want to pay attention to most is your images. The first things you’ll need to decide upon is just how many images your site will require. Although images make a site prettier, you really want the last amount as possible. The less images, the faster your site loads; hence the more people are apt to browse through. Once you’ve decided on how many images you want for your site, then you must make sure that the images are optimized.
Image optimization is a pretty easy process. Basically you’re deciding on the balance between ‘quality & size’. A good general rule is to try to keep most of your images below 30 kb, although this range could increase depending on site content. Another good way to save on size is to use thumbnails. Where you’ll have smaller images, that if clicked on will open up the full image in its own screen.
As for simplicity, the best way to make sure people stay at your site is making it easy to navigate. Don’t use fonts that might be artistic but are hard on the eyes. Don’t use hidden menus, or alot of rollover menus, but if you can make them simple enough then they should be ok. The cliche’ but always true simple applies to sites like any other business, “keep it simple, stupid”.
