Congratulations, you’ve got a page out on the web. Odds are, if this is your first attempt, you may have a lame page and don’t even know it. Here are some helpful hints to keep people from hating you before they get to your "Biography of Neil Diamond" page.
your HTML tags. Nothing is more annoying than someone who tries to use all of the HTML tags on a single page. HTML tags should be used effectively, not randomly.
Keep your total page size at a minimum. Most people don’t want to wait while the 1 Meg Gif image of your face downloads. When I get to a page that takes forever, I skip past it. I don’t have the time, and I’d bet most other people don’t either.
Nobody cares to see the pictures of your family or boyfriend/girlfriend. And for God’s sake, don’t be "cute" and have a page "authored" by your infant children, snotty-nosed toddlers, or pets. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to embarrass your children throughout their lives, don’t make billions of people suffer through it as well.
Keep the subject matter interesting. If a particular subject interests you, great, write something about it. Don’t just have pages of links followed by more pages of links. I realize that time may be limited (you’ll notice not all of my pages follow this rule either) but at least have one thing that is unique to your site; Make people want to come back.
Try not to be browser specific. Aim for tags that support at least the majority of browsers (Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer). Oh, and I have the latest browser, and even if I didn’t, I’d know where to get it. Don’t flash your internet colors by having those lame "Netscape Now" or "Best if viewed by Internet Explorer" graphics and links. I can find the sites, trust me.
If you divulge yourself, at least be informative. If you must tell me that your favorite band is "The New Kids on the Block" at least tell me why. Maybe a rational argument will make you realize that you have really bad taste. Don’t just recite your stats as if you were the Playmate of the Month ("Eyes": Blue; Hobbies: Rollerblading; Favorite Foods: Sushi etc.)
This is the blurry one: Watch your subject matter. If you can’t hold a conversation with fairly normal people about your desired topic without someone getting REALLY uncomfortable, odds are, you are some sort of weird deviant. If you are embarrassed to talk about it, don’t write about it. I really don’t want to see pictures of the birth of your latest child while I’m eating my spaghetti.
If you are selling something on the web, offer something for free as well. Give information, tech support, advice, FAQ’s, something. I say this for many reasons. First, no one wants to see the web become one large commercial. We have an excellent information resource available to us, and yet a large population is trying to use it for their "Get-Rich-Quick-Schemes". Second, the best way to attract customers is to offer them something. I don’t need to prove that one.
Have navigation graphics that make sense. If you are using "buttons", logos, or site-maps to aid in the navigation of your site, make sure they make sense. A symbol that makes sense to you, may not give anyone any clue as to what it links to. Pages that make me guess as to where I need to go to get the information I want are not highly tolerated. If I can’t find the information I need, I’m gone. Also remember, you are facing an international audience. If you must be creative with your site maps, also include corresponding text links as well.
Have your contact information someplace logical. I often hit the web to find a phone number or an e-mail address, don’t make me hunt for it.
At bare minimum, make your sure your "internal" links and graphics work. We can’t always make sure that other pages will stay at the same addresses, but you should know where yours are.
Be creative. Everybody can do this. Have fun, be inventive, and offer something to your "viewers".
Vitus@Vitus.com