Size: Your website is like a t-shirt
posted May 24, 2010 12:06am
Wondering why your site might seem large or small? You're probably thinking it should be made to fit _you_. Well that depends.
OK, just keep it "above the fold"
Well, there's the another issue. In the print world there are standards that have been around for years. Letter-size is 8.5 x 11. Everyone who receives the same piece printed on this letter-size sheet will be looking at the same thing and seeing it in the same way. If you fold that in half vertically, the halves are the same for everyone.
With a website it's quite different...but that's also a good thing. If you have something important, put it at the top of the page. Period. When someone reads a web page, they start at the left, move to the right then down. As they read, if they see there's more below. they scroll down.
Scrolling isn't a hardship, its a habit
After spending so much time reading on the web, when I do read an actual printed newspaper I actually get annoyed when I have to keep flipping pages to finish reading an article. It's the same with the web. I don't want to have to click through a bunch of pages. There are down arrows, I can use my mouse, I can click a "page down" button. All of these are wonderful options for getting past that "bottom of the screen" calamity. Embrace it.