1. Structure

Before creating your own website, it is necessary and essential to draw on paper the main line. You have to define several things :

• the goal of my website, what I propose there
• the target, the public which I aim
• how can I can touch this target.

More you target your website and more it will be relevant.

2. Ergonomics

Once the purpose of this stage carried out, ergonomics will make the website useful and usable, not only through the design but thanks to the structure which will have been established before.

In order to succeed, a website must take into account the practices of the user, it is not complicated. You just have to think that it is targeted to you and look as other websites (if most websites are similar, there is a reason), the structures are often similar.

A good browsing is the key of a good ergonomics.

3. Hierarchical organization of information

The first contact with the home page is of primary importance, it is this page which goes and must encourage the Net surfer to continue the visit more deeply.

The menu organization also contributes to the clearness of the website. The more there will be of menu under and the less clear the site will be. The ideal is “to spread out” to the maximum the tree structure over the 1st menu level and then to gather information similar or pertaining to the same family in the 2nd level of the tree structure.

The maximum of levels tolerated before losing the visitor, is 4 or 5, with beyond your tree structure is to be re-examined!

The diagram below represents the way that use the eye during the reading of one site to the screen. Reading which itself is reduced by 25% compared to reading a newspaper.

Source eyetrack

4. Positioning the elements

The place of each element of your site also has a major importance. It is preferable, even logical to place in top of page important information (private accesses, small principal, current events…), because the eye is less attracted naturally at the end of the paragraph.

Source eyetrack

Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

The red zone in top left must contain the most important information. 

To finish it is wise to know that in a page-setting, the perception of colors has more importance than the  size or format of the texts. The contrast of a color will be able to emphasize an important part or different from your website whereas colors little contrasted express a feeling of similarity.