Ten common mistakes

We've worked with hundreds of eBayers on their pages and these are what we feel are the top ten most common Design mistakes. -- Workshop materials prepared by *zip

The Top Ten  Page Mistakes

These are the typical mistakes we find on About ME pages. Most of the same issues can be applied to auction or web pages as well.

1.  Text is Centered - Centered text is for headlines, headers and wedding invitations. Use left aligned or justified text.

2.  Text is Rainbow Colored - Stick to no more than two colors for the text - one color for the main text and a second for the section headers and title.

3.  Pictures are Too Big - Crop, resize and compress those photos!

4.  Paragraphs Are Too Short or Too Long - A paragraph is at least two sentences, but no more than four or five. Combine like subject matter into one paragraph or cut those long paragraphs into smaller pieces for easier reading.

5.  Page is All About Terms and Policies - It's not an auction, it's a page about you. You can't hold buyers accountable for terms on your ME page, so why not skip the boring stuff?

6.  Main Background is a Pattern or Texture - Use white or a plain solid color behind the text.

7.  Background Covers the Whole Screen - Don't obscure eBay's navigational links with the background. Keep the background confined to your part of the page.

8.  Text Size is Too Big - Your page is not a billboard. Don't slap your viewers in the face with your words. In general, use size="2," size="3" or size="4" for the main text and size="5" or size="6" for the title, depending on the particular font.

9.  Page is Cluttered and Disorganized - Limit the number of special effects and graphics, icons, seals, etc. Organize your thoughts and the page content.

10. Page has Typos and Misspelled Words - Show you care! Run your text through spell check or have someone else proofread the page.

Use the design tips in this workshop and you'll have a page to be proud of! If you get stuck while working on your page, please feel free to ask for help on the About Board or the Photo/HTML Board





Workshop tutorial and images prepared by *zip

The Design Basics Workshop Series

Summary  - The 10 Design Basics for a Better ME page
Design Basics 1  - Getting the most from Color
Design Basics 2  - Using Fonts
Design Basics 3  - Effective use of White space
Design Basics 4  - Using Photos
Design Basics 5  - Backgrounds and Borders
Design Basics 6  - Multimedia
Design Basics 7  - Top 10 Design Mistakes

 

Copyright © 2005 shipscript, *zip, merrygocats