Broadband Internet connections, faster computers and browsers able to render complex layouts and images have led to a revolution in web design over the past few years. Unfortunately, many web designers have gone too far and are churning out designs that are visually stimulating, but almost completely non-functional to the end user.

The reason most end users find these new designs difficult or even impossible to navigate is because they have become accustomed to certain "web design conventions". Design conventions appear everywhere - from our homes to the roads we drive on and the user interfaces of our desktop software and favourite websites.

The typical suburban family home is usually built with four outer walls and a slanted roof because that is what we are used to and expect. It is a design convention. Road signs are made in particular shapes and colours because we have become used to those shapes and colours and instantly know what they mean.

These are design conventions. They are a particular way of building and presenting things because that is how people know and recognize those things. Departing from design conventions can be artistic and visually pleasing, but with most people it will result in an inability to function as usual.

The very same is true of web design. Though the Internet is still very much in its infancy, there are already numerous well-entrenched web design conventions that anyone putting together a website should be aware of and take into consideration.

One such convention is the appearance of hyperlinks, the lifeblood of the Internet. It is the ability to link content to complementary or opposing content and allow readers to instantly view that other content that makes the web so unique. So, naturally, the appearance of hyperlinks was one of the first things on the web to acquire a design convention.

Now, the core design convention of hyperlinks is a glaring blue colour and an underline. This appearance does not fit well even with most conservatively designed websites, so nearly all designers take some liberties with the appearance of links. But it is a mistake to go too far. You still want your visitors to know that a link is a link.

Making all of your links black with no underline is probably a bad idea, as most readers will skip right over assuming them to be plain text. An alternative colour and perhaps a bold font weight or an underline will help most visitors to identify links. Just make sure you stay consistent. Changing the appearance of links from page to page, or even using several different styles on the same page can lead to confusion, even if all the links are distinctive from the regular text.

Another biggie is the use of buttons, which most web surfers expect to look similar to the buttons in their desktop applications, which of course are modelled after the buttons found on most modern appliances and electronic devices. A button is a button is a button to most people. If you go and get too crazy in the design of your website's buttons, your visitors may not know what they are looking at and consequently will never click through.

Similarly, most net citizens expect to find a logo and a link returning them to the home page in the upper left of the screen, or somewhere very nearby. Detouring too far from this convention will cause many to simply leave your site without exploring any deeper.

The goal of most websites is to gain readership and possibly profit from the popularity. Therefore, with traffic and potential profit in mind it is essential to always design to the lowest common denominator. Think of the most Internet-illiterate person you know - would they be able to navigate through your website and find the content you want them to see? That's why it's best to stick to web design conventions.