Since the Web emerged in 1989, familiar conventions have developed for how websites work. Visitors come to expect them, even when they do not think about them consciously.
Here are four front-end conventions I think deserve more attention:
These are my views, shaped by years of building websites.
Menus
The main menu is the starting point for a visitor to find their way on your website. Keep it consistent across pages so visitors do not have to relearn it.
The main menu should be displayed horizontally, in the header bar. I would put “Home” first and “Contact” last.
Visitors won't find "Contact" easily if it's hidden in some small secondary menu, and even though everyone knows a logo links to the home page nowadays, "Home" should still appear in the menu.
Put the most important sections in the main menu. I suggest limiting it to five items besides “Home” and “Contact.” You can place related pages in dropdown submenus.
If you have more very important sections, review your site structure. For SEO purposes, your menu should reflect your site structure. This includes both main and submenu items.
Less important sections can be placed in the footer menu. Don't expect anyone to use this menu, but it might add some value for SEO.
Even Amazon doesn't include "Home" and "Contact" links in their main menu.
Buttons
When you look at a web page from a distance, the button should be the first thing you notice.
Buttons guide visitors through your website, and should be consistent throughout the website.
A button should stand out through its size, type and especially color. A contrasting color can make it easier to spot against the rest of the design.
When you buy a standard template, oftentimes the buttons have the template's main colour. Like in the template I'm using.
Holy shit! I'm doing it wrong myself .
Copy
Copy must be easy to read. Big fonts work better than small fonts, even if it "doesn't look nice". Beauty is less important than usability on a website.
Black text on bright backgrounds works best to read on a screen.
Font use should be consistent throughout the website in order to not confuse the visitor. Different types of headers should have the same size in all instances to be recognised as such.
Don't use different font sizes or different fonts for paragraphs all over the website. Smaller text can look less important and may be skipped.
Furthermore, decide how you want to address the visitor. This can be informal or formal, as long as you are consistent (doesn't apply for English), and it can be plural or singular.
Hey Zuck, your copy is too small.
Hyperlinks
On a website, an underlined word implies that it's clickable. So don't underline words that are not hyperlinks.
Give hyperlinks a distinct color—the site's main color can work—and underline them. If you want to do it perfectly, the styling of hovered, visited and active links should be different.
Google does it wrong. Almost all words on this page are hyperlinks but not underlined.