It can be expensive to hire a company that specializes in website creation to do your site. Plus, you may end up spending money on a site you do not end up liking. There’s a possibility that they might not design it the way you envisioned. In fact, you may be the only one who can bring it to life. Use the tips below to help you design a website that you can be sure of.
Make sure that all of your colors match one another. Choose a font and color that will help your words stand out from the background. Dark text on a light background is the easiest for your visitor to read. If you have doubts about your color scheme, run it by a few people and see what they think of it.
Always be aware of the size of your webpages and keep them as small as possible. Some users have slower connections and will lose interest if a website takes too long to load. Don’t waste their time or your own.
Make user cancellations easy. This might include completing forms, browsing your site, or registering for newsletters. If you don’t let visitors back out of an incomplete action, it can be perceived as forcing them to do something, which will probably make them go elsewhere.
Use shortcuts. When it comes to website design, there are many shortcuts; as you become more familiar with the field, you are sure to find fast ways of doing just about everything. Some of these shortcuts include HTML codes that can help you quickly make changes to your web page.
Keep your topics separated. If you have several topics of discussion on your site, put them on different pages. This will help your customer quickly find the information he or she requires.
You must always include the capability to search if you are working on a large website. The upper right of the main page should have a search box for users to search your whole site. You can add search functions to your site with Google and FreeFind.
The type of files you use for graphics on your site are related directly to the size of the file. This affects the load time of your site. Choose GIFs and JPEGs; instead of other types of graphic files. While PNG and BMP files create crisper graphics, these types of files can take up significant disk space. Your graphics should be converted into the types of files that can be managed size wise, thus ensuring visitors have a wonderful experience on your site.
Test your site as much as possible. You must test its user usability and interaction early so that you can add these aspects to the design later. Keep testing and improving as the design nears completion.
Make your fonts professional and readable. The quality of a professional website is measured by it’s fonts. Don’t use fancy or non-standard fonts. Some people may not have these fonts installed on their computers. If your reader doesn’t have the font you require, their browser will substitute a default font instead, possibly throwing the layout of your entire page off. That can ruin your design!
If you have some ideas for more than one website, you should reserve a name for your domain, now. Get creative and choose something you want, but reserve the name early to ensure you have it. There may be others thinking along the same line. We are all stimulated by the same media and social events.
Task based usability tests are a great way to determine how effective the design of your website is. In general, the purpose of the tasks is to locate some information or functionality that is buried in your website. Should the site be designed well, the task is easy for the user to complete. From the other side of the coin, if the user has difficulties executing the task the tool is designated for, you will know exactly where issues lie within your design.
Target Audience
As you design a site, look to your target audience. Ask them what is important in the sites they like. This helps you gear your website to what your target audience really wants. When you get advice from the audience you’re targeting it can help you with what your site should be like.
When coming up with content, remember that you users are bound to have different literacy levels. Some people may have very basic reading skills, while others may be quite advanced. Create content that is easy to comprehend yet provides valuable information.
Avoid wasting time by programming your domain and user name into your file server. This makes it simple whenever you log back into the server, because all you do is click on the menu and select personal settings. You will be surprised at how much time this can save you.
Have someone visit your website, and provide you with feedback on its functionality and attractiveness. Each addition or change you make, needs to be double and tripled checked by multiple people. You may not be bothered if a video loads slowly, but others might think differently. Do your best to gather outside opinions.
Remember that the process of designing your website continues even after your site goes live. Keep as active as possible with your website. Regular updates are important as they show that you are bringing something new to your site. If you advertise events or limited offers, make sure this type of content is up to date. Updating your website isn’t as quick and simple as updating your blog. It does require you to work at it.
A great thing about designing web pages, other than it being simple to do, is that you are able to bring your vision to life with just a few easy clicks or some lines of code. The tips in this article will help you to create a site which fulfills all of your needs. Put these tips to practice or suffer the consequences of ignorance!