Graphics
Starting with graphics, think small in the range of 10 - 12 KB per image. Of course, the number of broadband users is going up, depending on the source, but slow pages are always a very bad idea. They can make visitors want to pull their hair out waiting on it to load and this is not what you want. Enormous images are the primary reason for slow pages. You can still have the images you want on your Web pages. Just remember to optimize them, which is quite simple to do.

The next thing to remember when choosing your graphics is to make sure they always fit with the content of the Web site. While you may have precious photos of your darling pet does not mean that you should put them on a Web site about coin collecting. The wrong images may confuse your visitors and send them hitting that Back Button.

While it may be tempting, resist the urge to use images that blink, move, change, flash, rotate, or do something on your page that attracts too much attention. If you just HAVE to use something like this, use them SPARINGLY. Studies conducted support the fact that flashing images are more annoying and distracting to most people than anything else. There have even been focus groups on this particular subject where the browsers were using things to physically cover up any flashing images so they could actually READ what was on the page. Many more viewers will just leave the page.

Layouts
When planning your layouts it is best to stay with the standard ones. Using such layouts as putting multiple frames on one page or making your reader scroll to the right to read everything on the page may be unique and look fancy, but your visitors will lose their minds trying to focus. Instead, stick with the 3 column layout. It is quite popular for Web sites as well as newspapers for a reason: It works! While you may find it boring to build, you will find that more readers will stay with you if you are using something simple to understand.

Always be aware of the whitespace on your Web pages. Pay attention to how it affects the way the content is seen. Whitespace is important in your Web page layout just as it is in your paper layout.

Graphics can, and should, be used in your layouts as elements. They can be more than just images when used as actual elements. Wrapping text around an image is a strong example of how to use graphics as elements, but any image included on your Web site is a layout element and it should be treated that way.

Fonts
When setting up the text on your Web pages, always use Serif font for the headlines and Sans-Serif for the text. This may be exactly the opposite of what you have been taught, but you must remember that the Web is much different from doing print design. These prints are much simpler to read on computer monitors because of the screen resolution not being as high as it is in print. Serif fonts used for normal text can blur together on the screen which will make it very difficult to read.

Do not use a lot of different fonts on your site. In fact, this is a great way to make your site look like an amateur made it. Therefore, it is best to limit your page and site to just 2 or 3 standard fonts. This makes everything easier to read and carries a more professional appearance.

While it may be cool to use Blackadder ITC or Edwardian Script ITC font for your Web site, chances are your readers may not have that font and will not be able to see the life changing information you have put together for them. You are much safer staying with fonts such as Arial, Geneva, Verdana, or Helvetica. They may be boring for you to work with but your pages are going to look so much better and the designs will work well on more browsers.

Advertising
Use any control you have over how many ads appear on your site. Your viewers are not coming to your site to read the ads. They are coming to read the content, so make sure your miami web design is easy to read. When there are too many ads, the content of the page will be lost and a lot of readers won't stay to try to decipher what it says. Of course, it is very important that you are able to make money from your Web site but you will only be losing money if your ads are driving people away.

Treat your ads like you would any other image on your Web site. Go with small and relevant, and do not use anything that blinks or flashes. It does not mean you should have an ad on your site just because you can. When you keep the ad relevant, your readers are more likely to click on it.

Remember Your Readers
Do not limit writing Web pages that will only work on the newest browser. This is not smart and is quite annoying to your would be reader. It is much better to test your pages in several browsers ahead of time. Take into consideration who your audience is, or should be, and proceed accordingly. Why make it hard for them to view your pages.

Also consider testing on various operating systems. Never assume that your page is going to work in both IE5.0 for Windows as well as in IE5.0 for Macintosh. This is something you want to be sure of ahead of time.

Do not write content that only YOU will be interested in reading. It is a waste of time to go to all the trouble of posting on the Web when not many readers will care about it. So write content that your readers will WANT to read. Keep it to subjects your readers want to know more about.

Now that you have the basics down, you can plan your Web pages accordingly. When done correctly, your site can be one of the most sought after ones on the Internet.