TIP 30

Keep It Simple, Stupid

As in any form of design, don't try and re-invent the wheel when simple solutions will suffice. The KISS philosophy has been around since the dawn of website design and indeed a long time before.

KISS does not mean boring web pages. You can create stunning sites with smashing graphics - but you should build these sites using simple techniques - HTML & CSS, for instance. If your new to web design, avoid things like Flash and Javascript, especially for elements like scrolling news tickers etc. These elements work fine for TV - but generally only cause problems for website visitors.

Keep layouts and navigation arrays consistent and simple too. Don't spend time, effort and money (especially if you work in a professional environment) designing fancy navigation menus if, for example, your new website is an information site.

Same with SEO - keep your documents well structured (valid HTML etc) and use your Meta Title, keyword and descriptions properly, use H1 tags and use bold and italic once in your page to highlight those important keyword phrases (as on this page!).

Even the big boys understand the principle of KISS - check out this well known resource to see just what we mean....

UK Government recommendations:

'Keep pages simple and easy to understand'

Guidelines for UK Government websites
Illustrated handbook for Web management teams

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