10 Web Design Best Practices

1. Write your pages for multiple types of web browsers to provide trouble-free access to the widest possible audience.
2. Run Web pages through a validator to test their compliance with common HTML (HyperText Markup Language) specifications. We recommend the WC3 Validator.
3. Condense textual content to fit the time and attention constraints of today’s busy Web users. For example, look at all of the information found in the description on this  house for sale web page.
4. Use small (byte-wise) graphics so graphics load more quickly in graphics-capable browsers.
5. When using graphics, provide textual alternatives, (alt tags), for image-disabled or text-only Web browsers and indexing agents.
6. Test. Every visitor will see your pages differently. Test your pages with as many browsers and platforms as you can.
7. Use external CSS (cascading style sheets) to separate design from content. This helps with SEO (search engine optimization).
8. Spell check and proof-read your documents.
9. Locate and fix any broken links.
10. Build your site with key words in mind. It is especially beneficial to use them in links, titles and bold and italic text.

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