Conventions Of A Website

Danielle Watkins

Logo Placement

Logos are typically placed in the upper left of the page, but some TV websites subvert the stereotype such as ITV who have placed their logo in the centre of the page. This in turn makes the ITV logo and website more recognisable and unique, whereas the BBC and Channel 5 follow the typical placement.

When there are multiple windows open on a computer, the consistent left placement of the logo allows them to be aware they are still viewing their website.

Main NavigationThe main navigation appears at the top of the website, and this is the most recognised placement for the navigation bar. ITV again subverts this convention by placing their navigation bar underneath the two large images showing this week’s most talked about episodes.

Changing where the navigation bar is can confuse viewers and cause them to leave the website, as people do not want to be searching all through the website to find what they want. Having the navigation bar at the top of the page creates consistency and allows for the users to navigate easily.

Images

Images are an obvious website convention, as a website without images would be rather boring, unprofessional and unattractive. The audience are interested in seeing images to understand the information text a lot clearer. If a website avoided using images, it would be cramped and overcrowded of text. The websites usually include one large, eye catching image and several smaller images. BBC, ITV Channel 4 and Channel 5 all follow the website convention as it is popular and professional. We will follow the conventions of including images because it is more suitable for the audience,

Link Styling

Clicking links has become second nature for web users, as they want to know what is clickable and what isn’t. When this is broken it becomes confusing for the users and can cause them to visit an alternate website. A classic link is defined by being underlined text or text in a different colour. You should avoid underlining words which are not links, and avoid using different coloured texts for non-links.

Button Functionality A button is a feature which is often used on websites as it is extremely intuitive. This highlights that they should be clicked, but you should ensure that all buttons link to something. A button that doesn’t link to another web page or area of your website will be confusing to users. The button functionality is different on each website however they are still fairly similar. For example, on Channel 4 the links get bigger, however, on Channel 5 the links underline.

Standard Icons

Icon conventions are useful as they provide a clear explanation without words. For example, if you want to contact the TV website company an envelope can signify email, and social media icons signify social sharing. Replacing these with more original icons will confuse the users and they will be likely to leave your website.

Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchies are encountered many times throughout the day, for example newspapers, billboards, invitations and even cereal boxes use this hierarchy to let us know what to read first and which information is the most important. Using visual hierarchy on a webpage brings readers back to this familiar structure, and processing the page becomes automatic. Losing this hierarchy is only going to confuse viewers.

Clear Naming

So many TV channels are competing for attention on the web, it is important to use creativity in order to allow your webpage to stand out.

Users want information first, so ensure that information is included before you begin the creative side. There is room for innovation, just keep the users in mind.

Social Networking

Most TV Channel websites, such as BBC, ITV and Channel 5, includes social networking links allowing the viewers to become an active audience and to source information about the shows onto their person profile sharing it with their friends. Typically, the main audiences that use the social networking option are aged around 16-34 year olds, because younger people tend to use the internet and social networks more frequently than older people. As a group we have agreed to use the social networking link that directs the audiences to Twitter, Facebook and Google+. We think this feature is important because our TV Channel is typically aimed at people around 16-34 year olds. If we were to avoid using this feature our TV Brand would struggle to reach a large audience and will not be as popular as other channels, because it is not being shared or expanded.