PROFESSIONAL WEB SITE DESIGN
Why bother with design in web pages? Professional web site design serves two purposes:
1. gives an attractive look to your pages, increasing customer confidence and trust, and
2. makes pages friendly to the search engines.
Professional web site design will be too expensive for many literary sites, but time spent with graphic design books, and looking at other sites will pay dividends. A decent website has to :have attractively-written and useful content.
follow a consistent design scheme and copy style.
be laid out intuitively, with clear navigational elements.
still look good in 256 color monitor displays.
display properly in the main browsers and their usual versions.
Web Design Resources
You'll find helpful advice and examples here:
AlertBox. Jacob Neilson's twice-monthly (free) article on web usability.
BigNoseBird. Handy collection of HTML tips, scripts and articles on web design and hosting matters.
Really Big. Over 5000 graphics, HTML script, etc. resources for the web developer.
Tips and Tricks. Advice and tips on building good web pages.
User Interface Engineering. How to design a customer-friendly site.
WebDesign. Excellent advice and resources.
WebDeveloper. Advice and tutorials on web builds, marketing and programming languages.
Webmaster's Design. Guide to aspects of site design and promotion.
Web Monkey. Popular tutorials on most aspects of webdesign and marketing.
Page Ranking Resources
Though not entirely free any more, search engines still provide the best promotion. Help your ranking by ensuring your pages have optimal design.
Dr. Watson. Free online service checks links, word counts, browser compatibility and HTML coding of your pages.
FaganFinder. Handy free tool that analyzes your pages for links, word popularity, readability, etc.
LinkSleuth. Excellent free software for checking links.
NetMechanic. Various packages to check links, coding, appearance under different browsers, etc.
Website Optimization. Tools and services to improve site design and click-through appeal.
Website Test Tools. Good listing of tools and services for website testing and management.
HTML Editors
Our own experience suggest that you'd do best with an old version of Dreamweaver or GoLive bought secondhand on eBay or your local computer auction. But if you're just doing the odd site and want something fairly cheap and intuitive, then consider:
Basic Web Editor. Not WYSIWYG but has wizards for tables, etc. $25.
PageBreeze HTML Editor. Both text and WYSIWYG. $30.
Quickie Webpage. Uses wizards to create websites. $30.
AiMCo. Text-based editor with WYSIWYG mode. £39.
Best Address HTML Editor. Split-screen approach. $45.
Coffe Cup HTML Editor 2006. Popular WYSIWYG program. $49.
EZ Generator. No HTML to learn, and access to 15,000 royalty-free photos. $99.
The following are free and create generally adequate pages:
AlleyCode. Includes XHTML tags and CSS. Not WYSIWYG.
AceHTML. Basic version free: Pro is from $30. Not WYSIWYG.
Amaya. A more advanced package.
HTML Kit. Basic program free, plugins cost $55.
Matizha. Text-based editor with WYSIWYG mode.
Mozilla Composer. WYSIWYG web editor with a word-processor interface. Not WYSIWYG.
Netscape Composer. Simple but rather limited.
Nvu. Fairly intuitive (we used it for this page).
Selida. Not WYSIWYG bur split-level viewing code editor.
A review of popular HTML editors can be found here. Many more exist, as an Internet search will show. Try a shareware version to ensure you're comfortable with the program before purchase. Visual (WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get) interfaces are easier to work with, and indeed what many professionals use for all but the tricky bits.
Webpage Templates
If you're staring at a blank page, or want to liven up your present site, then why not get off to a good start with HTML templates?
1stSiteFree. Lists some 16 sites offering free templates.
Art for the Web. Some 78 good-looking templates for $195: free if you link back.
Boxed Art. Thousands of templates and graphics for $50/year.
Cool Website Builder. More than templates: builds the whole site. $49.95.
GoDaddy. Over 470 templates plus 2500 photos. $14.95, plus $35 for first website you post.
Layout Gala. 40 free templates styled with CSS.
OSWD. Over 1600 free HTML templates.
Template Foundry. 100 stylish HTML templates for $25. Also Flash and Photoshop templates.
Template monster. Over 2,000 templates, flash templates, logs and fonts. Various options: details on site.
FTP Programs
Once you've designed your webpages, you'll need to upload them to the server. Many FTP programs are advertised on the Internet, but all you need is something simple: