The document discusses various conventions of website design. It notes that logos are typically placed in the upper left corner but some TV websites place logos in the center to stand out. Navigation bars are usually at the top but some sites place them lower. Images are an important part of engaging users and large prominent images with smaller supplemental images is a common format. Links, buttons, icons, visual hierarchies, clear naming, and social media integration are also discussed as standard conventions websites follow to create intuitive, user-friendly experiences.

1. Conventions Of A Website
Danielle Watkins

2. 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.

3. Main Navigation
The 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.

4. 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,

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.