Have you every visited a website that made you stare at it in awe of its greatness? From graphic design to layout, there are lots of elements that turn a site from okay to awesome. You can get the expert info you need in this article. Keep reading to learn more tricks for designing a website.
Join online forums to learn even more about web design. A quick online search can help you find a lot of great information.
Use the proper graphic tools for website design. Keep in mind that bitmaps don’t usually work well, while PNGs do. A PNG image should be used when it has less than 256 colors, so try to stay with that when designing text buttons, screenshots and images that are photographic quality. JPEG files are best for photographs.
As you construct your site, be conscious of the colors you use together. You want to make sure that your text is easily visible against your background colors. Using dark colored text on a light colored background generally ensures that the text is easy for visitors to read. If you have doubts about your color scheme, run it by a few people and see what they think of it.
Users can navigate your site easier when you have fixed-position navigation. What occurs when the navigation is fixed is the panel follows the users scrolling. In other words, it moves down the page as the user moves down the page. You can use this both to allow your visitor to navigate more easily, and to keep your call to action in view.
You must create a website that is easily navigable to attract and keep traffic. Links need to be prominent and simple to find. Menus render your website easier for users to surf. Ensure that you have a link to your website’s home page on every page on your website so that visitors can easily return to you site’s main page.
If you want your website to cater to the needs of visitors, it must be user-friendly and simple to navigate. Display links prominently so that they can be easily found. You can also improve your website’s navigation by using simple menus. Always post the links to your primary pages on every sub-page to keep visitors on your site.
Become educated on shortcuts and frequently use them. Most web design techniques have shortcuts you can use. There are even HTML codes that allow you to make fast changes to each of your pages without having to re-upload them.
Broken Links
Your front page should be simple and inviting. A lot of people will only look at the front page. That’s where they are making the decision whether to spend more time on your site. Spend time describing your business and what it offers, but keep the rest to a minimum so that people do not get distracted.
Check your pages for broken links. Visitors do not like to click a link only to access an error page. Links can be checked manually, and you can also find software that will check your site to see if there are any broken links.
Get familiar with your subject. For example, if you are creating a blog, don’t post without doing your research. Publishing inaccuracies and falsehoods will glean you a bad reputation, causing you to lose readers. Knowing your subject is very important when having a blog.
Use a sensible background for your site. You don’t want your text to be hard to read! A distracting background is…well, distracting. Choose a background which complements your website, and your visitors will find it much easier to read your message.
As you go about setting up your website, make sure that you add ALT tags to all images on the site. These tags are important for your website and people that disable graphics. If part of a link, you can include information about the link intention. It may also benefit your search engine rankings.
Don’t rely on JavaScript too much. JavaScript does open many doors when it comes to website design, but it can also close the door to your website for some visitors. All web browsers vary, and each one releases new versions on a regular basis. Not everyone will upgrade to the latest version of his browser. Many people turn off Javascript, or disallow it on a site they don’t visit regularly. Your website may not have any functionality to offer these types of users as a result.
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. GIF’s are much easier to utilize on your site. Although there are a number of advantages to using PNG and BMP files for web graphics, these types of files take up much more disk space. You can convert the larger graphics into a more manageable size to help your viewers have a better user experience.
Anything published on your site needs to be something that you know and understand well. If you want to have a blog or website, you need to research anything you plan on posting. The last thing you want to do is distribute incorrect information. Having a good blog involves having an education on your subject.
Optimize load times on your website. People are more likely to leave your site if the load time is too long. Reduce file sizes, graphics and fancy coding to bring your pages down to acceptable load times.
Do not have pop-up windows on your site. The average user finds pop-up windows to be an annoying distraction, rather than something useful. Frequent pop-ups can cause your visitors to become disturbed enough to leave your site, hurting your reputation.
If you end up with designer’s block, look around the internet. There are tons and tons of sites you can glean inspiration from. Find one you like, write down what appeals to you and then figure out what you can mimic on your own. Remember that a successful website needs more creativity, not just the stuff you have borrowed from others. You need to improve on them as well.
Text Editor
Using pop-up ads are a sure way to turn customers off. You may be really tempted to do this for the money they could bring, but all this will do is annoy folks. People will not want to visit or click away immediately. Your ads should be simple, direct and engaging, without pop-ups.
While development platforms can ease the coding process, many are not as efficient as a plain old text editor. A WYSIWYG editor allows you to drag and drop, cut and paste, and basically create a website as you would a word processing document. However, in order to eradicate errors and create efficient websites, you should really learn how to code by hand using a generic text editor.
It does not matter how much money you have invested into the website, being a site host is not a great idea. Design as much as you can yourself, but letting someone else host it will free up some of your time, allowing you to work on other things.
For creating your own website, try using Adobe Dreamweaver. It is ideal for beginner builders and easy to learn. There are numerous features, templates, layouts and more, and you can also test out your site to see what it’s going to look like.
Your code is already created in development platforms, but classic text editors may be more reliable. Most people use a design platform to generate code for any features that they want on their website, and then they simply copy and paste the code into their webpages. However, if you’re wanting to minimize errors and have an excellent experience, you need to utilize a text editor.
Get help from a professional. There is much to learn from someone who has already mastered web page design. Aligning yourself with an expert will greatly accelerate your own learning process.
For creating your own website, try using Adobe Dreamweaver. This program is easy for even the least skilled amateur. It is feature rich, with lots of layouts and templates. It can also help with testing the site so you know how it will look once on the server.
Search Function
The majority of people are familiar with Photoshop, and for those who want to succeed with web design, they understand they must learn as much as they can about it. However, many are not as familiar with Dreamweaver software and its features. It might be worth looking into this application to find out how it can benefit you.
Make sure to include a search function. Site searching makes it easier for users to access information, and increases the overall usability of the site. You can include a search function easily, and it will greatly increase the utility of your site.
Having some unused space within your site is an excellent design feature. Do not fall under the illusion that your site should be completely filled with information. White space in your website could improve its readability; your visitors tend to have an easier time absorbing and reading the information there if things are not cluttered.
If you need to design more than one website, then you should check into multiple platforms. Learning PHP and MySQL skills, as well as Java and other platforms, will help you out in the future. Take the time to develop skills that can be applied across multiple platforms, regardless of whether your needs are personal or professional.
Try not to utilize Flash when developing your website. While it can seem high-tech and exciting, it can cause computers to lag, and decrease a visitor’s experience on your website. Also, you should keep in mind that a lot of mobile Internet tools, such as smartphones and tablets, will not display Flash. You could be cutting yourself off from a pretty large pool of potential visitors by using Flash.
Designing a website is just like creating a work of art. This means that you should feel inspired by the everyday things in life, and put that inspiration to work. Keep a notepad or PDA with you so you can sketch out ideas no matter where you are. Make sure you always write down, or draw your ideas, so you won’t forget them later.
It is important that any logo contained within your site, links back to the home page. Over time, the “clickable logo” has evolved into a standard that people assume is part of every website. Users may be frustrated if they cannot easily find a way back to the home page. If your logo is clickable, people will find your site more navigable.
Try to avoid using Flash elements on your website. While Flash can look very high-tech and exciting, on some devices it will cause everything to slow down. Also, you should keep in mind that a lot of mobile Internet tools, such as smartphones and tablets, will not display Flash. You could be cutting yourself off from a pretty large pool of potential visitors by using Flash.
It is important to include descriptive titles as part of your website. Take a minute to search for a common term “untitled document”. You’ll see that this is a common mistake! Naming your site will help search engines rank it and visitors find it. This will play a large factor in how you rank on search engines.
Make sure your logo links to your homepage. People have learned to be accustomed to a few things, including menus on the left, headers at the top and logos which lead back to the front of the site. If your logo isn’t “clickable”, that frustrates users, because they have to look around the site for the “home” link. Your site’s navigation and ease of use will be much improved by making your logo into a link.
Checking out domain auctions allows you to grab up a good name that you wouldn’t be able to buy new. These sites offer access to dozens of domain names, including those that were abandoned or sold.
Look at domain name auction sites to see if the one you want is for sale. You will be able to buy abandoned or never used domain names that would not be for sale anywhere else.
Come up with a design concept for your website, and sketch it out on paper ahead of time. Talk to your friends and family members to see what their opinion of these sketches are; it will give you insight into what your visitors will think of your page one day. It will also give you new ideas for your site.
The secrets are out, and you can now start building your website. Start a rough draft and list what you like about other sites. Be creative and don’t forget to enjoy it!
While reviewing your newly designed site, make sure that you have used techniques that lead to success including any necessary images or information the customer has requested or you need to promote your goods and services. You might even include the BBB to ensure visitors know your site can be trusted.