News24, Business Day and Moneyweb have all had big design makeovers in the past few months and though I’m no design guru, I use the Net everyday and have come to the conclusion that:

1. It’s ideal to have a busy, busy front page in order to entice users to stay on your site and click around.

2.  Of course, content is key but these trendy, clean Ikea designs — like the new-look News24 (and old-look The Times)   — hide too much away on other pages. Put more of it on your front page, guys. IOL, for instance, is not the prettiest website around but there’s a lot going on and it does mean you end up clicking on more headlines that take your fancy.

3. Business Day is hiding far too much away — especially its opinion, analysis and economic stories which is what sets it apart from the other sites. Don’t hide your light under a bushel, folks.

The Richmark Sentinel... is it fashion forward or OTT?

4. You can overdo it though and Michael Trapidos’s Richmark Sentinel is completely odd. It’s so busy,  it assaults the eye but  it is growing on me, what with its vertical newspaper column feel. It is  OTT but then maybe it suits the site, what with it’s grand sounding name and they do have a petty good mix of columnists.

5. Moneyweb’s new look is pleasing and they are actually managing to punt more on their front page than before the redesign though having a  biggish picture on the front page is really only worth it if you have a steady supply of complelling pictures. One gets a bit of a fright when you load up the fornt page, to be confronted by  the  ugly mug of a columnist (my own included).

While we’re talking Moneyweb, my column this week is about Denis O’Brien, the second biggest shareholder in the Independent Empire. Here’s an excerpt:

I requested an interview with O’Brien and was told by his people that he was on holiday but after ferreting around online, I think I can confidently say that O the Younger is a businessman with balls and many would buckle in the face of his colourful, cussing gift for entrepreneurship. For a 2008 Forbes cover article, O’Brien defined his business strategy as: “Get big fast. [Damn] the cost. Be brave. Go over the cliff. [The competition] doesn’t have the balls.”

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