A website can help you to accomplish so much. One can sell things on a website, or just use it for expressing their thoughts. However, wanting a website and actually creating it are two very different aspects. In the following article, you are sure to find a number of ideas with regard to website design that help you in that endeavor.
When you design a web page, always choose the graphics that are appropriate for your purposes. BMP files are large and can slow down a website. For simple images, GIF is fine, though. Photos require JPEG to ensure high quality.
Make sure that a tagline is prominently displayed on your website. Using a tagline simply means that you will need to come up with a quick statement that lets visitors know what your site is all about. Using a clear tagline is important because when someone visits your page, you have roughly eight seconds to capture their attention and entice them to explore the rest of your site.
You should always take time to removed old, irrelevant content. You will come across as undependable or an amateur if you have information on events that have long passed. Users will spend time on websites that are well-maintained, and the presence of your outdated information will tell them that your site it not being properly cared for. Make sure you regularly schedule time to add new content, and to remove old.
Web Browsers
Do not use JavaScript too much. Some of your website visitors may not have JavaScript, and others will not want to update it on a regular basis. The major web browsers differ somewhat in functionality, and they are updated frequently. Many visitors use outdated versions of various web browsers, which means your code might not be supported. Also, many people do not enable JavaScript in web browsers. Your website may not have any functionality to offer these types of users as a result.
To help you design a nice looking website, purchase one of the many web design programs that are on the market today. You will be happy with the professional product these programs can produce. It doesn’t matter how good your content is if your site is dated and unusable.
Stay away from using pop-up ads. Many consumers are bothered when they visit a site and are suddenly bombarded by pop-ups. It is not unusual for some people to refuse to stay on a website, and not return either, if it contains pop-up ads. Your customers will be much happier if you give these types of advertisement a wide swerve. If your host gives you no choice about using pop-ups, you probably ought to choose a new one.
Regardless of your target audience or what type of site you have, try to keep your loading time under ten seconds. A site that is designed well will only take a few seconds to load. Most visitors want instant gratification, so give it to them.
Don’t use too many fonts when making your website. You definitely want to consider what the fonts are actually going to look like on different screens and whether they are too small to read easily. Fancy fonts may look attractive at a glance, but a closer look reveals they can be extremely annoying to read.
Be certain to have a way to receive feedback from site users. You will learn what is missing or misunderstood, and be able to make changes as needed. If a visitor feel involved, he or she will want to see your website again.
File Sizes
While you want to keep the aesthetics of your site in mind, you also need to make every effort to keep your file sizes to a minimum. There is a direct correlation between file sizes and page load times. You want your site to load as quick as possible. Even though broadband is common these days, there are still people stuck on 56K connections. You want to perform a test to make sure your site performs well, even with dial-up modem connections.
Links should have content with text in them. Links with content should be visible enough to show the viewer what they’re clicking. If you have links that have no text content, it may be possible to click them by accident and result in a key board shortcut.
An important website development consideration is reducing links that are broken. Do this each time you upload new content to your site. This is important, as visitors who click on your links expecting useful information, only to find a 404 page, will leave your site in disgust. Make sure everything is in working order to keep this from happening.
Learning about design on the web is much easier as you practice. Start with some simple pages using C+ and HTML to make sure that you have the fundamentals down pat. Practice, as they say, makes perfect!
Avoid using pop-up ads whenever possible. Including PPC ads to make some money on sites is a big design element that does not irritate your users as much as pop-ups that bother their view. This usually results in visitors not returning to your site. Keep the ads you do use simple; you don’t need crazy pop-ups.
As noted at the beginning of this article, having a website can be a very useful tool. People use them to share information or run their own business online. If you wish to make your own site, you can build one using the tips above.