If you’re new to website development, you’ll need to pick up the elementary principles, so that you can end up with sites that work well and look great. If you want to know more about website development, there’s lot of resources you can study. Start with this article. Read on for some basic website design tips to help you improve your skills.
If you’re working on website design use the right graphics for the job. Keep in mind that PNGs are much better than large and poorly working bitmap images. Use a GIF instead if the image contains over 256 colors and PNG for test buttons and screen shots. Try using JPEGs for photos.
Try using fixed-position navigation to let your users navigate with ease. This means that when the visitor goes down your page, the navigation panel will be locked. It benefits virtually everyone who will visit your site.
Watch for new ideas on forums dedicated to website design if you want a head start, or simply to learn more. With a quick search on Google, you can uncover plenty of information that won’t cost you a dime to learn.
Make sure your website passes a test by NoScript. Activate this extension to assure that your sits is readable. Some content, like ordering systems, will not work properly without scripts, but when your site is completely blank when scripts are turned off, then that’s not a good sign.
If you want to maximize the potential of your website design, ensure that your pages appear correctly on all web browsers, so any visitor can view them. Different browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Chrome may not display content the same way; what works in one might not work in another. Before you website is launched, test the display of each page in all major browsers.
Each topic needs its own page. If your website covers a variety of different topics, put these topics on separate pages. This will reduce visitor confusion and facilitate readability by the search engines.
Keep the front page of your website simple. Most people will decide whether or not to stay on your site just by looking at this page. Provide simple content on what you do and how to contact you.
To help design an attractive looking website, use interesting photos that you have taken. Your site looks friendlier when it has photos. Those pictures can lead to a lot more post views per visitor.
Allow your visitors to contact you through email, a contact form, comments or social media. This will clue you in to ways that your website falls short of their expectations or doesn’t work properly, enabling you to make the necessary changes. Making your visitors feel involved is a great way to ensure that they will visit your site again.
Keep load times to a minimum of your site. Visitors will leave your site quickly if they have to wait on something to load. 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.
It is no longer on trend to use a visitor counter on your website. You may think it’s improving your site, when in fact, it is not desirable. Find another way to track your traffic.
Design Tools
Using a host’s design tools to build your website is a good idea for the basic layout, but you don’t want to rely on the design tools completely. Make sure to infuse your unique personality into your site, rather than just focusing on a drag-and-drop tool that your hosting company might offer.
Many people find it very helpful to subscribe to a newsletter for website designers. This offers periodic updates and ideas that will be useful for developing a site. Whether designers are well-versed in website development or just getting started, they are likely to find helpful information.
Be sure to proofread everything you post to present a professional appearance. You want visitors to easily absorb it. If your site is rife with errors, it makes you look like a rank amateur. Visitors will dismiss you immediately.
Photoshop can be a great resource for website development. Strangely, Photoshop’s companion program, Dreamweaver, is far less known, even though it is a purpose-built tool for web page design. The many potential benefits Dreamweaver can offer you make it well worth investigating.
Try to make your website more entertaining by using graphics. Prevent a bland appearance by wrapping text around your images. When you have content that looks like it took time to create, people become interested in your site and come back for more.
As you have seen, a new web designer must know the basics before they can create stunning websites that also function properly. There are so many resources available that it could all seem overwhelming. Following the tips provided in this article is an excellent way to start gaining an understanding of website creation concepts.