One can never justify the lack of performance when visiting a web page just because the website design is beautiful. The most common mistake of amateur and even professional designers is the belief that visitors need to be entertained with dazzling displays and fancy visual experiences.

Here are five important website design rules of thumb to observe which should ensure your website performs well.

1) Don’t use splash pages.

The splash pages are the fancy pages you see when you enter a website. These pages use elaborate designs created with the purpose to entertain the visitor with fancy animations, brilliant photos and include welcoming words such as ‘hello’ ‘welcome’ or ‘click here to enter our website’. These are merely distractions that can divert attention away from the purpose of your website. Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Banners must be used with caution

These are usually large adverts placed at the top of the web page but can also be at the bottom too. Blatant ads such as banners tend to be regarded as being less credible and it is a total waste of website space Web surfers tend to ignore such banner ads so adding them would only mean a waste of virtual real estate space. There is a better way to add contents instead of using banner is by giving them useful information and then add their affiliate links so that they would seem natural.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

The navigation should be made very simple that even a young child can manage to find their way around. Do stay away from any form of Flash based menu or even multi-tiered menu as they only serve to add more complication to the layout. Remember, if users find it hard to navigate, they will leave very soon after landing on your home page. It is good in any website design to include a sitemap to help them find what they are looking for.

4) Have a clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. This way, they can head to the right information they are looking for. This can be achieved by making sure that each page has its own title and some form of trail that shows them which links they have been to and which is new for them. Never confuse your visitors because you will lose them very quickly as they become frustrated.

5) If possible, do not use any form of audio files

To make your visitors stay longer, avoid the use of excessive music. The sounds when added can enhance an experience, but when played over and over gain it can start to be irritating. It may be a cool thing to include some music but do give your users some form of control such as muting ability or volume control. If you wish for the visitors to return to your site, learn to apply all these website design rules and you can reap the benefits of long term traffic.