How to design web sites successfully

Success isn’t just restricted to professional web designers. Anyone can easily learn the essential skills required to design sites to the new standard.

Successful design does not always depend on attractive visuals, though that can help. Success is primarily a result of good thinking. For me, this approach should result in a site in which everything -structure, brand, page layout, graphic design, and error handling – is deliberately geared to success.

The guidance on this site gives you everything you need to be a web design expert and create excellent sites, starting now.

The most important tool for designing to the new standard, is my "Golden Rule".

Every element that goes into your web site must have a purpose.

Every single feature must either

  • Help your visitors achieve their goals, or
  • Support the site’s goals without obstructing the visitor’s goals

Web Design from Scratch is a complete system for designing sites to the new standard. The processes help you build a complete web site from clarifying your purpose, and creating a solution in architecture, layout and page design.

Every step of the process rigorously applies the Golden Rule. The result will be a web site that really works.

For a more comprehensive guide to designing effective web sites, see my ebook “Save the Pixel – the guide to simple web design”.

Make Better Web Pages!

How to make your web site sell - use my secrets

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Do you love our approach to crafting simple & effective web sites that just work for people?

We'd love to hear about your web strategy.

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Articles + tutorials in Basics

What is the Relationship Between Graphic Design and Web Design?
Explores the difference between design, graphic design, and web design. Argues that web design is a much broader discipline than graphic design.
How You Can Easily Boost Your Web Site’s Success Today. A Simple Step-by-Step Guide
How every web site owner can make their site more effective by applying the principles of simple web design explained in Ben Hunt's ebook
The Simple Shall Inherit the World Wide Web
The case for simplicity in web design, with tips and guidance for designers
SEO Basics, introduction to Search Engine Optimisation
A simple guide to the Basics of Search Engine Optimisation, how to optimise web pages for search engines
How to make a web site
Introduction to the process of building and publishing web pages, and overview of tools (text editors, FTP)
The Web Design Golden Rule
My golden rule for web page design - a simple touchstone to help all design decisions
Layout in Web Design
No-one looks at the screen
Why no-one wants to look at the screen when browsing the web
How to design for the web
Basics of how to design web pages for the way users really use the web
Text-based logos
Why text-based logotypes are very effective
The Sphere of Design
A conceptual tool for visualising the balance between functionality and aesthetics in visual design
Logical Positioning of Web Page Components
Importance of logical order of visual components in web page design
Scanning and Readability of Web Pages
Scanning is the most important feature of web users' behaviour. This article looks at why users scan and what designers can do to help us scan better.
Factors that influence the web browsing experience
Guide for web designers on the factors affecting how people use the web, interact with web pages, and scan instead of reading
Web Design Conventions
Understanding how to use conventions is a critical skill in design
How to Design for the Brain’s Strengths
Understanding what the human brain has evolved to do helps designers create better web pages
The Design Spectrum
A visual tool for picturing the relative aesthetic and functional elements of a design solution
Readability – making web pages easy to read
Trusting the Web Site User
Why it's important to trust users when designing web sites and applications
Why Most Web Sites Suck
Reveals the main reasons why most web sites and web page designs are so bad
Web Users are Impatient
Why web users are impatient when using the web, and what designers can do to improve the online user experience
Simple Web Designs Work Better
Explains the principle of Simplicity in web design
Why the web is hostile and how we cope
People don't use web sites in the way web designers think they do. This article explores why the web is so difficult to use, what people do to cope, and the implications for design.
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