With the number of people using the web as their do all end all in life, it is easy to understand how a poorly designed website can make or break an entrepreneur. Read on to learn how you can design a compelling site that will attract initial visitors and keep them returning for more.
Testing your website in every browser available is a great way to ensure it works as you wish it to for every visitor. Some things that work in Internet Explorer might not work correctly in Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Prior to formally launching your site, verify that it displays correctly in each of these popular browsers.
Use a sensible background for your site. Some sites include complex or patterned GIF backgrounds that can make text hard to read, no matter how novel it may look. Choose a background which coordinates well with the message that you are trying to impart, it must blend in well with the balance of your website design.
Be sure that scanning your website is a simple matter. Many usability tests show that most online visitors do not read everything. They usually only scan for things that interest them. Using bolding, color changes and breaks between sections of text makes your content easier to scan and makes it more likely that visitors will return. Place the most vital info on the top of the page. This ensures your site is user friendly.
Make sure to preserve personal information that may need to be entered again by the same user of your website. For instance, if a user registers at your site and another form requires the same information again, be certain your website preserves this data to prevent them the useless and annoying hassle of filling it in again. This information retention and re-use makes site transactions much easier, and many people will appreciate that.
Always provide site visitors with an option to offer feedback. This lets you see if anything is confusing, or if you’re missing something on the page, so that you may fix it as you can. Allowing visitors to actively participate in your website will make them want to visit again.
It’s hard to go wrong with a simple color like white for the background of your website. White backgrounds not only make the text easy to read, but also make your site appear more professional, as white is the standard background color for corporate sites. When there is a more complicated design in the background, it can be very distracting, and make your website look less professional. It’s usually better to keep your background simple.
Reducing Flash
Be sure your website’s load times are quick and efficient. If a visitors has to wait long periods of time for items on your site to load, then they’ll wish to exit your site. Some techniques you can use to insure fast loading pages are reducing Flash, minimization of CSS coding, and reducing Flash and graphics on your page.
Get in the habit of testing early and often. Perform usability tests in the early stages of designing your website. As your website grows test it.
When designing your website, create independent CSS pages for the web browsers and use conditional loading. These techniques will make it easier to test and maintain your site. Every website needs some maintenance eventually, so you need things to be as easy as possible to make the necessary changes.
Using a development platform can make it easy to code your web page, but they are not necessarily reliable. A WYSIWYG editor allows you to drag and drop, cut and paste, and basically create a website as you would a word processing document. In order to minimize platform-created errors and really learn the nuts and bolts of website creation, you may want to consider editing your code directly using a simple text editor.
You must practice what you learn in order to completely understand how to use the site design concepts. Use the practice to apply the knowledge that you read here for easy learning. Your goal is to take what you know and develop something completely different than your competition and practice is the only way to do so.
You will have to know HTML5 fairly well if you are to succeed in website creation. If you aren’t well-versed with HTML 5, you’ll have a lot to work on later, so be prepared and start learning.
Try to include some “site searching” on your index page and sub-pages if you can. This will ensure that visitors can access the knowledge you have to give, and that they came to your site to find. It is very easy to include this option on your website, and visitors will undoubtedly appreciate your effort.
If you think that you will be creating multiple websites, take the time to become familiar with various platforms. Knowing MySQL, Java, PHI and more will benefit you in the future. Whether you are designing a new site, or simply helping a friend launch his or her own, a wide variety of experience will help you.
It is not difficult to develop a gorgeous website. With a little practice, you will find that you can design a website that showcases your content and is easy to maintain. Keep these tips in mind when you do.