It doesn’t matter why you have a website, it’s important that you design it well. It is among the main factors in whether or not visitors will like your site and if you will be viewed as an authority. Continue reading to learn more about designing a website that will do exactly that.
Frames have been uncool to use since the 90’s. Frames are flawed and they went out of style for a reason. Visitors are bookmark junkies and frames make that task extremely difficult and a simple scroll an annoying effort. Use other ways to make your site easier to navigate instead.
If your website is going to attract visitors, it needs to be easy to navigate. Your links need to be prominently placed, easy to understand and functional. Another way to provide easy navigation is to incorporate menus. Ensure that there are links to all of your main pages, such as the home and contact pages, in a prominent location on every page.
Design web pages to not take up too much space. Mobile users have no interest in pages which take forever to load. It is best to avoid making visitors to your site wait a long time for each page to load so that they do not give up and navigate away from your site.
Set up your website to store personal information that users might need to reenter multiple times. Saving data from one form to another, like username or email address, is imperative. With this “sticky” information, you create a simpler, easier experience for your users, which will prompt them to stay on-site longer.
Understand what your purpose is. It is very important that you conduct plenty of research about your subject if you are thinking about using the site as a blog. By providing your viewers with information that is murky or false, you lose traffic. Knowing your subject inside and out is essential for a good blog or website.
You need to have content that moves and excites your visitors. If it grabs your visitors attention, they will stick around and return for more. When you have relevant content on your site that appeals to your viewers and takes into account what they are looking for, there is a good chance they will want to visit again in the near future.
Search Engines
To create websites that are enhanced for search engines, make sure frames are not included. Information within frames cannot be read by search engines. If the search engines can’t view this important information, then you’re not going to fare well in the search engine rankings. When that happens, not many people will see your site.
Make sure your site loads quickly. Those who visit your site have little in the way of patience so ensure your site is designed to load quickly. Try reducing your number of graphics, Flash, and script on your pages, optimizing your HTML, using SSI files, using client and server caching, creating expire headings, and minimizing your JS and CSS coding.
Use conditional loading and independent CSS pages when creating your site. Doing this will make it easier to test and maintain your website. Every website needs some maintenance eventually, so you need things to be as easy as possible to make the necessary changes.
Running a site and web designing, must have a personal office. Remove distractions, to make your office a space in which to work, without interruptions. Keep all of your tools and materials within easy reach and keep the space optimized for your workflow needs.
If you plan to design more than a single site, learn to work with several different platforms. There are many technologies, including Java, PHP and MySQL, that can help you down the road. No matter if you will be making your own website, or helping out a friend with one, it’s important to be a multi-faceted web designer.
Visual Sitemap
A visual sitemap is a recommended option when building a website, as it will help you plan things in advance. A visual sitemap enables you to precisely watch over the development of your website. This allows you to quickly identify areas of your website that have been overlooked, or could use improvements. When you have a clear visual, anything is possible.
Make sure that your site has a site map. This accomplishes two purposes. They allow anyone who visits a website to get a quick overview. Visitors can see what they want and what is offered through one easy map. Maps are also important because they are needed for SEO purposes. Search engines find it easier to locate your site and “crawl” it.
If you have a website, you should at least know something about the design process. Your visitor retention depends on it. Implement the information shown here to create a successful website.