Design Suggestions for Historical Society Web Pages

Dear history lover,

I share your interest in history. Thank you for the historical preservation work that you do. You provide so many history resources for so many people. I see some great history pages out there. I see many that aren't so hot. Following are some recommendations to make your web pages more user friendly.

1. Show your address on your home page. Many home pages show this near the top.

2. Include 'About', 'Membership', and 'Contact' pages on your website. Make it easy for people to know about you, to contribute to your organization, and to contact you. Make sure your contact page has, not only your email address, but also your physical address, phone number, and fax. If appropriate, include directions.

3. Tell us what resources you have.
What publications do you have for sale?
What photos do you have?
Tell us about your research capabilities.
Tell us about your museums, libraries, archives, and events.

4. Make sure your home page loads fast. Perhaps your web designer has impressive razzle-dazzle effects, but people won't wait. We just don't want to see 'cute' special effects on your home page. Don't make me load 'Flash'. Keep it simple. The Sesame Street generation (my children) will just not wait for it to load.
A very common mistake is to have pictures or graphics with a higher resolution than can be displayed on a web page.

5. Test your pages on, at least, Internet Explorer and Mozilla-Firefox browsers.

These style reference links might also be helpful to you.