Top 10 Rules for a Website and Introduction

My name is Carli and I am studying Communication at Western Washington University. I recently took part in a class where we had to design out own websites, and it turned out to be very informative. This quarter I am taking a similar class, but one that goes more in depth into what a website should be and all the different aspects of designing one. 

The website I worked on with other group members can be seen here: http://thenuntilnow.weebly.com/.

From working on this website I realized that it takes a lot more than what I thought to put together a decent website. For this blog I will also being discussing 10 of the rules I would go by when creating a website. Part of the assignment for my new Comm class is to discuss these things so here it goes. 

1. Planning is critical: It's critical because if you don't have a plan for the website, it's difficult to know where to start. 

2. Pick a few major points and stick to them: Doing this makes it so the website is clean and easy to navigate. 

3. Pick a layout that is attention grabbing: you want something that will attract the viewers eye so they don't navigate do a different cite due to boredom. 

4. Try to use colors that relate to what you are presenting online: Nothing is more distracting than a random color scheme. 

5. Put valuable information on your website, but don't make it too wordy: Too many words makes the viewer want to do something else. No one wants to read through a website for hours unless they have to for a school or work requirement. 

6. Add pictures! : Visual aids are the best, enough said.

7: Make the website interactive: If you give the viewers something to do that will grab there attention it will give them more incentive to come back. Example being....Facebook?

8. Page should be complete: There shouldn't be any loose ends or something that is "under construction."

9. Test your target audience: When developing a new website test it on who you want your target audience to be and ask their feedback, this will make it so you can revise your site based on the feedback.

10. Revision: Go through and make sure everything is just the way you want it to be and revise it based on feedback or comments you have received. 

This top ten list is strictly what I would reccommend when developing a website, these are the tips that I find most useful and are purely based on experience. =]