AbleDesign - Tutorials
Web Design Tutorials - Beginning Design Considerations
Offer People a Reason to Visit and to Return
Content, content, content! You've heard it before, but it bears repeating: Content is king! Any questions? Forget about graphics and presentation for a moment. Focus on why you actually visit a web site. Is it to see what cool new background image or animated intro they have added this week? Probably not.
More likely, there is something that that site contains which you are interested in. It might be news, weather, products and reviews, stock updates, community discussions, tech support, or just about anything else imaginable.
I can hear the gears churning in your head. Yes, you guessed it -- these are all examples of content driven sites. Graphics are important only in the degree to which they make the visit enjoyable, but it is the content that will keep the visitors coming back. The Internet is about information; that's why you're reading this tutorial. Of course, information about creating nice graphics is a notable exception, but we'll get to that later...
Providing free information is a must for almost any viable web site, although there is no guarantee that that will remain the case. As long as it is, use the knowledge to your advantage and offer something of value to your visitors. This can be tangible goods, email newsletters, online articles, or just a site that is enjoyable to visit.
Ok, so content is obviously important, but there's got to be a reason for graphics and presentation, right? Most definitely!
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Which page would you rather read? While both pages offer similar content, the page on the right is visually much more appealing. Remember, there are literally millions of other sites on the Internet competing for your visitors' fleeting attention. You will need to grab their interest long enough for them to read what you have to say. However, there is a very fine line between grabbing their attention and overwhelming them. This is a risk both with graphics and text, so use each in moderation.
I don't believe there is anything left to be said on that topic... Are you as sick as me now?
