So I've been looking at LOTS of website lately (problem of sitting in front of a computer all day) and I've noticed a number of things which in my mind are mistakes. Let me lay some Website design thoughts on you all even though ... I'm a technical guy and not a designer.
Remember your target screen size! A lot of the more recent computers and monitors are moving towards a 16:9 visual ratio, but the original screen sizes were 4:3. What do these ratio's mean? It means that the width (first number) and the height (second number) is what you can see on your monitor. If you have a monitor that's an 800 width then the 4:3 height is 600 while the 16:9 height is 450. Ok so this is math, but it is important. Most old (and by old I mean 7 years ago ... what a dinosaur) computers where being built with the 4:3 ratio and very few were created with 16:9 in mind. The standard monitor size being distributed was minimum 1024x768. So when designing for websites, 7 years ago, you wanted to keep within an 800x600 size so you could capture the majority of your audiences.
Around 7 years ago the trend was to move towards 1024x768 being the standard monitor size. So websites were moving in that direction. However, with the recent trend towards widescreen monitors it is important to realize where the trends are taking us. It is also important to take into consideration that your browser uses some of that width when you include window borders, scrollbars, and extra sidebars. So even though a screen size may be 1024 you probably only have around 980 to get away with.
Remember your target folds! This term comes from the newspaper industry where the most important items were seen on the top fold. In the newspaper-less world (sorry newspapers) our "folds" are the levels of scrolls we need to see on a webpage. The "top fold" is what the user sees without needing to click on a scroll bar. This is where you need to stick the most important information and actions on your website. However, most companies waste this space with useless mastiff design. If I can throw-down an "Enoch-ism": Get over your Mastiff and Move on to your meet! I use "meet" here because you want your visitors to meet those actions that will increase your revenues. Mastiff's take up WAY TOO MUCH SPACE!!! Remember the more folds it takes for a person to get to your actionable items the more you will drastically reduce your conversions.
It is important to note that with WIDESCREEN monitors the ratio's of Folds is different than with STANDARD monitors. A 1200 width standard monitor (4:3 = 900 height) gives you about 748 pixels per fold (you have to add in application borders, toolbars, status bars, etc. into the equation) while a 1200 widescreen monitor (16:9 = 675 height) only gives about 523 pixels per fold. That's 225 pixels less or almost 1/3 of the fold gone when you move into widescreen. Something to think about
I have been noticing many website developers designing for one or the other of these thoughts but not for both. It is important to see what your website looks like through different views and not just rely on your monitor as fact. With that said let me tell you about a nifty little tool on Internet Explorer 8 (and 9 beta, but I don't recommend it yet). If you use IE8 and press <F12> you get the "Developer Toolbar" that floats around. Most of the things on this toolbar aren't useful to non-geeks with exception of one great tool. It is found under "Tools –> Resize". This allows you to Resize the browser into other sizes automatically. This will help you understand a little better what your clients may be seeing on your website.
But Enoch ... I have a great website designer who designs my website into a beautiful artistic masterpiece. Why would I want to listen to your advice? I'm glad you asked person who lives in my head who sounds like combination of Groucho Marx and the Vlasic Pickle Stork. Truth be told there is powerful things to say about artistic websites. But I'm not talking about the aesthetic pleasing nature of shaders and layers ... I'm talking about getting you more money. The fact is the harder you make potential clients work to give you money the less they will give. There is something to having functionality over graphics. And this is the side I always look at ... aesthetics don't matter as much as functionality. They are important, but make sure your website directs the traffic properly before you add a colorful graphic.
Remember we like simplicity in our lives. Whether it be in our websites or our ice cream ... after a deluge of internet flavors it's wonderful to sit back and revel in a simple flava bean!