Website design and hosting UK: Layout

Because users can resize their browser’s window at will, how your site appears on any given system is highly unpredictable.
Before deciding your layout it is necessary to understand some basic facts:

Users hate scrolling
Users REALLY hate horizontal scrolling
Most monitors nowadays are set to at least 800 x 600
Many users reduce the browser window and “park” it on the side of the screen
Long lines of text are difficult to read
Unless the visitor can find, at least, a route to what they want in under 30 secs. they will leave.
A crowded and “busy” page is a big turn off
Ideally you need to grab the visitor's attention in a screen area of 640 x 400 pixels

There are four main layout styles:

Unrestrained - This allows the content to stretch and shrink according to the size of the browser window (Like this page).
Unfortunately this style gives you little control over the balance between “white space” and content. It also can result in long lines of text on larger screens.
Fixed Width - Most commonly this is set to 800 pixels, being the most popular screen setting. The white space can be set for left (Why would you?) or right (Most often). This allows presentation to retain its integrity but also shows a large amount of white space on larger screen settings (if viewed at full screen).
Fixed Height - This is rarely used as it leads inevitably to horizontal scrolling. The white space appears above and below the content. This style might suit a picture gallery or anything that demands a linear progression.
Fixed Size - This presents a rectangle in the middle of the browser window of fixed size, thus allowing the designers presentation to appear as intended, but does restrict the amount of content that can be displayed.

This page is presented here in “Unrestrained” layout.

Layout of your Site