Here are a few common fixes that make a site look more refined and professional. Please review your site and see that you follow these “rules” or that you have a really good reason to break them.
- Title all your pages.
- Do not use table borders. Arrange your content in imply a grid. Use borders (on divs or cells) to separate sections. Be aware of white-space.
- Get rid of that border around images that link: Click on the image in Dreamweaver> go to border in the properties panel and set it to zero.
- The size of the type should reflect the importance of the content. Each header (h1-h6) should decrease in size as you move down the page.
- Be sure to have a site header with your/your company name and a footer with your/your company name and contact info.
- Make your navigation LOOK like navigation and give it a consistent location and look-and-feel.
- Use a restrained color palette, 2 to 4 colors only, use shades of those colors if you need more variation.
- Be sure that your audience can READ your content. Use a consistent font site-wide. DO NOT center align paragraphs, its too hard to read. Be sure that there is maximum contrast between your font color and the background color. You should be able to *somewhat* read the font from a short distance or with your eyes squinted (or without your glasses)
- Check your links- be sure that they go where they should and that your user can navigate to and from all pages of your site (open PDFs in a new window).
- Do not be seduced by effects and variations. If you bold all text, then nothing conveys the importance that bold text signifies. If you add fun borders and backgrounds to all your paragraphs your user will be distracted from the content. Use design techniques to convey meaning not just because it looks cool.
