Tips for good web design:

  1. Don’t use the most recent tags.
  2. Never omit the <noframe> tags when working with frames.
  3. Avoid telling the visitor which browser/version to use to browse through your site.
  4. If you choose to ignore 3. at least link to a downloadable version of that browser and don’t just link to the supplier’s main site (e.g.http://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape7/english/7.0/windows/win32/NSSetup.exe instead of www.netscape.com).
  5. Use graphics/images with care and consideration. Sites that take soooooo long to load are a killer!
  6. Code special characters like the German umlauts (e.g. &auml; instead of ä). How can you be sure the visitor of your site is using the same character set like yourself?
  7. Graphical links should be accompanied by their textual equivalent.
  8. Please, erase all those ugly and useless "Under construction" images from your site. Of course your site is under construction; so is the entire web itself…
  9. Provide navigation within long documents. "Back to top" links are way better than endless scrolling don't you think?
  10. Do you know that the <img> tag takes width, height, and alt attributes? You do? So, why don't you use them? Your site loads faster if you support the browser's rendering activities by telling the browser how big an image actually is.
  11. Never forget to use the alt attribute for images that serve as links!
  12. Leave the user a little freedom by erasing the noresize attribute in a frameset. What do you prefer? Your site not being enjoyed by visitors with smaller screens (they'll leave faster than they got there) or your site being enjoyed although it might look different from what intended it to look?
  13. Blinking text gets on most peoples nerves I tell you.
  14. Use many(!) exclamation marks!!!!!!!! This way important statements will never(!!) ever be overlooked!!!!! ;-)
  15. Support cross-browser capabilities. Do you think I would download Mozilla 0.2.3.45.99.48 just because you are too lazy to support Internet Explorer, Opera, and Netscape Navigator? I'd rather leave your site…
  16. Be graceful enough to tell the visitor what browser to use if you ignore 15.
  17. Put some thought into the logical structure of your site.
  18. Don't put Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft onto your link list. I know them all by heart and so does the rest of the Internet community.
  19. Don't hurt our eyes by putting a black background behind a dark grey font. There are other ways to express emotional imbalance.
  20. Background images are usually disturbing.
  21. Provide a mailto link or a contact form to allow your visitors to get in touch with you. Not all of them dislike your site and want you to know that fact.
  22. If you really want to display a graphical counter on your site (are you sure anybody cares?) place it at the very bottom. The score of the counter is usually not the first thing a visitor is interested in.
  23. The first page of your site should contain a bit more relevant information than a single image the visitor has to click to finally get into your site.
  24. Use a spell checker before publishing a page. You do it when you write a letter that only a single person will read, don't you? What if millions do?
  25. Hardly anyone is interested in your favorite washing machine or in your girlfriend's the shoe size.
  26. Use different colors for links and visited links. It helps exploring your site's content.
  27. Linking other sites into your own frame is rude. And besides, it usually looks so ugly because the designs don't match.
  28. I think there are better ways to display the target of a link than in a new browser window.
  29. Use a suitable description for the <title> tag. Any visitor who adds your site to his bookmarks will be grateful.