Designing a website? Here are four useful pointers.

I've built my share of websites, either doing it all myself or as part of a team. And in a world of over-promises -- the bane of my existence as someone who works in online marketing -- I think it's important to keep it real, hype-free and reasonable.

Here, then, are some of the lessons I've learned for making a better website.

1. KISS(S) -- Keep It Simple, Stupid (Seriously)

No, seriously, keep it simple. The design should be simple; the usability should be simple; the writing should be simple; the "extras" that so many clients want, like videos, Java apps or whatever, should be absolutely dead simple.

I remember in the very early days of web design you could tell a n00b by their insistence on throwing a jumble of animated gifs onto the front page ... remember all those flashing lights and warning signs? Nowadays  things have gotten more sophisticated, with full-page image sliders and funky interactive elements.

When creating any form of creative content, up to and including novels, symphonies and feature films, the creator should only every put elements that add to the story he or she is trying to tell. Is this event advancing the plot? Is this dialogue illuminating the character's motives? Does this lovely string of notes add to the overall or detract from it? If not, it's gotta go. Every author has a wastepaper basket of discarded ideas, every film editor a cutting room floor.

Fight the urge to overcomplicate things. Remember that a visitor to a website wants to get things done; make it as easy as possible to accomplish that. Most of the time that involves getting out of the way.


2. Don't Forget to Entertain

Seems like a no-brainer, right? But you'd be surprised how often this one gets forgotten. In the mad rush to include keywords, product information and branding imagery, the basic desire to entertain is frequently lost in the mad rush to get the site finished. But as a person who creates stuff for a living, entertainment is always at the front of my mind, and it should be in yours, too.

Don't forget that a website is, fundamentally, a creative medium. That means visitors expect a little bit of fun when they visit your site. This can be accomplished through attractive web design or whatever creative components you're using. Writing, especially, gets overlooked as an opportunity to be fun, cause the occasional chuckle and generally pull a reader in.


3. Don't Fear the Blank Space

Non-designer clients sometimes have an all-consuming drive to shove as much information as they possibly can into a landing page. Every department, every product, every &$%(#*! staff member needs a button. But the average reader's eyes are almost guaranteed to glaze over when confronted with a website that's too jumbled and crowded. A small number of buttons, a few short passages of text, all interspaced with big blank spaces might fill an inexperienced client with fear, but it's great for many reasons -- my favourite being that it shines a spotlight on the content that is there, making it more important, more noticed, more, dare I say it, consumed.


4. Avoid Stock Photography

This isn't a major point, more a personal pet peeve. Stock photography has its attractions: it's easy to find and use, it's generic enough not to cause offense, and it's so widely used it feels like it's completely standard.

In truth, though, the common use of stock photography isn't a bonus, it's a serious problem. When you work in this field as much as I do, you start to see the same images being used all over the place. And since when is generic a good thing? And since when is the easy way the preferred way?

I myself am a competent photographer, and always make a point of offering my services for a nominal fee to my clients. Other times I encourage hiring a photographer (let's face it, there's a glut of photographers and wannabe photographers out there nowadays). Sometimes the offer is accepted, sometimes not. But I gotta try, man. I'm sick of those bloody stock images.


4. Websites Are Living Things -- Don't Let it Get Stale

Congratulations, you finished your website! Now don't let it just sit there and rot, keep it going. Update links, throw in a regularly-updated blog, tie in a social media component. Heck, it's even worth it to simple reword it from time to time. Even small actions can make a website seem like it's alive -- and therefore that it matters.