Top 10 Tips for Making Webpages (at Amherst)

  1. Don't say “click here.” Use informative link names, making the name of the thing itself into the link. Why? People tend to read webpages quickly, scanning for links. A linked name will catch the eye and identify the link in one step, while “click here” requires the user to hunt around in the text to find out what the link goes to.
    No: Click here to go to the Amherst College homepage
    Yes: Amherst College Home
  2. Title your page. A page's title appears in the top frame of the browser window and is the text saved in a bookmark, so make it accurate and descriptive but brief.
  3. Organize your content under hierarchical headers. Use H1 for the top headline on the page, and H2, H3, etc., for subheads. Logical headers will make your page easy to read even when the style sheet is removed (such as when viewing on a cell phone) and will make it more accessible to the disabled.
  4. Use brief but informative file names, such as homecoming.html (rather than, say, hmcmng-new1.html). Remember that your page's name, and the name of the folder it's in, will show in its public Web address. Also, be sure to use “Web-safe” file names: only lower-case letters, numbers, the underscore (_), and the dash (-). No spaces!
  5. Name the main page in any directory “index.html.” That way, you can publicize “www.amherst.edu/cats” instead of “www.amherst.edu/cats/mainpage.html.”
  6. If using Dreamweaver, use the up (or “put”) arrow to upload files to the live site, and the down (or “get”) arrow to download files from the live site. It's all too easy to drag a page to the wrong folder, thus breaking links and/or overwriting pages. Dreamweaver will mind your directory structure and put your page in the right folder.
  7. If you must rename or move a page, let Dreamweaver update the links for you. Then be sure to upload all the updated pages as well as the page you renamed or moved. Learn more about renaming webpages.
  8. Add photos to your pages! Just make sure they belong to Amherst, and don't make them larger than necessary (300 pixels wide is probably large enough).
  9. Add brief ALT text to informative graphics so that people who can't see the graphic will know what it is. Graphics that are merely decorative should have blank ALT attributes. See Make Your Website Accessible.
  10. Delete obsolete, duplicate, and draft files from the Web server (W drive).