I’m currently planning a site update (fluid responsive) but can’t decide if it should have a single column as now or 2 columns (something like this).
1 column, header, footer layout
Why?
No content to put in the 2nd column (this is a relatively small site)
Why not?
Makes site very narrow (I want to limit the amount of characters per line for usability reasons, so there will be a maximum width, probably more narrow than most sites)
2 columns, header, footer layout
Why?
Solves the width issue, making it more normal
Why not?
No content to put in the 2nd column
I guess there’s not much I can do about making the main content column wider since I want to limit its width. I look at a lot of sites for inspiration and see that sites with 2 (or more columns) are either used for advertising (I won’t have that), navigation (I want a horizontal navigation bar in the header section, collapsible to a vertical navigation bar for mobile users.) or additional content (this is probably my only option but I’m scratching my head as to what to put in there).
So it all boils down to: what kind of content (apart from navigation or ads) can be put in the 2nd column?
My philosophy is to let the content dictate the layout, so if you don’t have a good reason for a second column, don’t have one. One option is just to make the text bigger (and thus wider, if you like) … and this is in vogue now anyway. Look at the world famous Zeldman site, for example, which was recently updated as a single column site. Loverly, if you ask me.
I guess its best to place navigation and ads on the 2nd column. That is how most of them use the 2nd column. Place recent posts, or most popular posts or place text ads or image ads. Content can be put on just 1 column and that would do. In case you are hell bent to put content on the 2nd column you could put some quick facts or trivial facts or add video widgets.
I think navigation should be less prominent compared to the content. So I would go with a one column layout with navigation as a row on top. This reduces the clutter and gives A LOT more space for content which should be the star of the show.
What is the most common ratio between a content column and a column to the right holding “most popular posts”, ads. etc?
Would 2/3 for content and 1/3 for other things suffice?
I don’t know if anyone researches this stuff. But I’d say make the right column as wide as you need in to be. One option in a responsive design is to make the sidebar width fixed and let the main content area expand and contract, such as here:
