Designing Web Pages for Kids
http://www.iwebdevs.net/articles/3281/1/Designing-Web-Pages-for-Kids/Page1.html
Cheow Yu Yuan
Cheow Yu Yuan is the co-founder of OOm, an online marketing agency providing Web Design services.
Check out more Web Design portfolio here. By Cheow Yu Yuan
Published on 08/3/2011
The age of children getting online for fun gets younger and younger by the year. While parents used to only worry about their teenagers going online for games and entertainment, they are now putting babies as young as two or three-years-old in front of the computer.
The age of children getting online for fun gets younger and younger by the year. While parents used to only worry about their teenagers going online for games and entertainment, they are now putting babies as young as two or three-years-old in front of the computer. This is because websites of every variety are now including special pages on their sites for children, even if their website is not oriented to children otherwise.
This is occurring because children are big business on the Internet today. Kids are going online in search of games so there are hundreds of gaming websites offering free games just for kids. Teenagers are going online to communicate with their friends and peep on celebrities so social media is taking off and websites with celebrity gossip are everywhere.
There's a certain thing that everyone has always said sells...but today, children sell, too.
When asked to include a page dedicated to children on a client's website, make sure that page has all of the following:
* Splash
* Interactivity
* Fun
The design needs to be splashy with bold colors and fun graphics, even if the rest of the website is anything but that. You have to switch from the brain that designs elegant, well balanced web pages to the brain that designs fun, interesting websites that catch the interest of children. You have to get in touch with your infantile self and go back in time. What would have caught your attention ten or twenty years ago? What would your little sister, nephew, or cousins find interesting?
The splash doesn't have to come from wacky colors. You can grab interest with wild graphics, funny flash clips, or moving elements that start talking to the kids upon entering the site. You just need something to grab their attention if you want them to stick around to see what else the page has to offer.
Interactive features are also very important, but they have to be fun or perhaps interesting if you are aiming the page at older children. You can put up videos that the kids will find funny and those videos could actually interact with the overall theme of the site so you can use it for keyword promotion of the overall site.
You can also design small games or feature games from other sites on the kid's page. This gives children something to do on the page that is interactive. Sometimes the simplest games are the most fun for children. For instance, one site features stick figures that look as if they were drawn with pencil that move through different sequences on the screen. Simple design, but children love it.
It doesn't matter if the site is selling bug spray or automobiles; the children's page has to be light-hearted and fun. They don't care what their parents may be doing on the site. They just want to have some fun or they will go to another site that is more entertaining.
Many children's pages also include printable colouring sheets or activity pages which include branding information for the company. Parents will print these off for their children, so they are extremely popular and very successful for off-site marketing. You actually get your company logo or branding information off the website and sitting in their home.
This is occurring because children are big business on the Internet today. Kids are going online in search of games so there are hundreds of gaming websites offering free games just for kids. Teenagers are going online to communicate with their friends and peep on celebrities so social media is taking off and websites with celebrity gossip are everywhere.
There's a certain thing that everyone has always said sells...but today, children sell, too.
When asked to include a page dedicated to children on a client's website, make sure that page has all of the following:
* Splash
* Interactivity
* Fun
The design needs to be splashy with bold colors and fun graphics, even if the rest of the website is anything but that. You have to switch from the brain that designs elegant, well balanced web pages to the brain that designs fun, interesting websites that catch the interest of children. You have to get in touch with your infantile self and go back in time. What would have caught your attention ten or twenty years ago? What would your little sister, nephew, or cousins find interesting?
The splash doesn't have to come from wacky colors. You can grab interest with wild graphics, funny flash clips, or moving elements that start talking to the kids upon entering the site. You just need something to grab their attention if you want them to stick around to see what else the page has to offer.
Interactive features are also very important, but they have to be fun or perhaps interesting if you are aiming the page at older children. You can put up videos that the kids will find funny and those videos could actually interact with the overall theme of the site so you can use it for keyword promotion of the overall site.
You can also design small games or feature games from other sites on the kid's page. This gives children something to do on the page that is interactive. Sometimes the simplest games are the most fun for children. For instance, one site features stick figures that look as if they were drawn with pencil that move through different sequences on the screen. Simple design, but children love it.
It doesn't matter if the site is selling bug spray or automobiles; the children's page has to be light-hearted and fun. They don't care what their parents may be doing on the site. They just want to have some fun or they will go to another site that is more entertaining.
Many children's pages also include printable colouring sheets or activity pages which include branding information for the company. Parents will print these off for their children, so they are extremely popular and very successful for off-site marketing. You actually get your company logo or branding information off the website and sitting in their home.