When I first started designing websites over a decade ago I looked around for web design courses that I could attend.   Things have changed now of course, but like many other web designers, I am primarily self taught.   Having said that I do bring classic principles of design and concepts of symmetry and structure to my work.  Here are 5 principles that I use:

1. Simple backgrounds – The goal of the background is to make the text or graphics shine. It needs to be completely unobtrusive and get out of the way. Check out this design over at this nail fungus treatment reviews site called FungusFacts.com where I’ve gone for the classic white bordered back ground.
2. Focus – The best webpages have a reason for being.  Maybe they exist to  portray an image or get users to click on a particular button or link. Every other feature on the site needs to be secondary to this goal. Online surfers are easily distracted and it’s crucial that you don’t design elements that draw the eye away from the primary goal.
3. Less is more – It seems a bit of a cliché but less is really more when it comes to web design. The goal is to get rid of the clutter and aim for a crisp, clear and simple design. I do a lot of this with spacing and padding, creating empty spaces around my design elements.
4. Navigation -  The reader must never feel lost on the website.  They need to know 2 things: where they are now ( and I love using breadcrumb trails for this)  and where they can go. Navigation buttons must be well described so there’s a copyrighting element to this.
5. Consistency -  Once I’ve decided on heading sizes, coloring, borders and font choices on the page I make sure that this carries on throughout the site. This gives the site an overall design theme and increases the perception of quality.