There are many reasons for websites. Some sites are meant for social networking, others for entertainment purposes. It doesn’t matter what type of site it is, a talented web designer is working behind the scenes. Following is some advice to assist you in developing a website of your own for any purpose.
Watch for new ideas on forums dedicated to website development if you want a head start, or simply to learn more. There are countless websites that you can find with a quick search through Google that can help you.
Your site must be simple to navigate if you want to attract visitors. It should be painless to locate important links and other information. Menus also make navigation more user-friendly. Link back to the homepage from every other page on your site; this makes it far easier for users to get around.
Don’t pile on the graphics. Though graphics are necessary for a professional look that is well-designed, too much creates clutter. Use graphics for improvement, not decoration. Having the appropriate number of graphics that do not create clutter improves the usability of your website, too.
Consider your website’s background carefully. Some sites have moving GIF backgrounds, which can be great at times, but can make your text difficult to read at other times. Choose a background which complements your website, and your visitors will find it much easier to read your message.
It’s a good idea to set up your site so that it can retain a copy of user information that must be entered repeatedly. For instance, if a visitor registers for your newsletter and they are going to use the same information to make a purchase, be sure the data they’ve already entered is kept, so they do not have to re-enter the same information. If you use this data to your advantage, users will be able to save time as they navigate your site.
Trying buying a computer program especially for website design. These are easy and will help you design a lovely site. You are going to be missing out on a lot of website traffic if your site is not appealing.
White is a great choice for a background color. It’s simplistic, yet has a lot of potential at adding flare and color elsewhere. Using white helps visitors be able to read your website, and gives your site a more professional look. When there is a more complicated design in the background, it can be very distracting, and make your website look less professional. When it comes to backgrounds, simpler is generally better.
File Types
The file types that you utilize for your website’s graphics directly affect file sizes which in turn affect how quickly your website loads. Generally, JPEGs and GIFs are the best graphics. Though better for the actual creation of web graphics, PNG and CMP files use up a lot of disk space. To ensure your site is user friendly, these types of graphics should be converted to file types of manageable size.
When using links on a page be sure the link uses text content. This makes it perfectly clear to visitors where they are going to go if the click on the links. If links on your site do not contain text, visitors may accidentally select them using keyboard shortcuts.
You should create a useful ‘About Us’ page A lot of websites offer nothing of substance in this area, and some even leave this page empty. Spice things up. Provide some insight for your visitors; tell them how and why you built your site and what goals you want it to reach for your company.
Check links carefully before you include them on your site. Make sure the links all lead to valid web addresses. The best time to do this is just before you FTP the page over to the server. Checking links is important since visitors who click the link will become frustrated if they find unavailable content on a frequent basis. To prevent this from happening, do a quick check to ensure everything is working properly.
You must practice what you learn in order to completely understand how to use the site design concepts. You want to do this because you want to make sure all of the knowledge that you’re learning is easy for you to apply. You don’t want to move on thinking you learned a topic when you haven’t properly understood it.
As previously stated, websites have many purposes, like providing entertainment, communication, and information. It’s important that if you are designing your own site you know what you are doing. Use the tips you read above to fine tune your skills in designing.