Mastering Web Design With Some Simple Techniques
Web design is becoming more popular, but many people don’t really know what they are doing. Do you wish to start your own web design career or re-design your own site? If you are serious, look to the tips below to help improve your skills.
Don’t use splash pages for your site unless required by law, and especially don’t use a Flash intro. Most people just want to get to your content as quickly as possible, and don’t care to look at useless splash pages. If you have some amusing content that you absolutely want visitors to see, integrate it into the homepage instead.
Web design is a subject that you always want to stay informed on. With this in mind, if you have any friends that are also into web design then you will want to keep in contact with them. You can exchange any new information you learn so that you’re both on top of your game when it comes to web design.
Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.
Incorporate a site map into your website. Site maps serve several purposes. First, they make navigation throughout your site much easier for visitors. Second, the major search engines can utilize it to index your entire site. This means your search engine optimization improves, and your website receives more exposure, giving you more profit-earning potential.
Do not use images for your background. When you think about some of the biggest websites on the Internet, they do not have images as backgrounds. When you use image backgrounds, you represent yourself as someone who is not well-versed in web designing. Images as backgrounds also cause your site to load slower, which can lead to user frustration.
Provide a navigation menu on every page of your site. While this menu does not have to link every single page of your site, as this could be an exhaustive list if you have a very large site, it should provide links to the main pages. This ensures that your visitors do not have to return to the home page and start completely over when it is not necessary.
Organize your links and avoid putting too many links in one area of your site. Doing this can confuse visitors and make them leave your site. If you do have many low- to mid-importance links, emulate the “blogrolls” seen in many blogs and tuck them away in a column on the right side of the page.
A website counter is outdated and not attractive. While you may like to see how many visitors you’ve had, most of your visitors do not want to see the counter. Avoid adding a counter and use other ways to watch your traffic levels.
Begin by creating tiny websites in order to determine areas that you’ve worked on which were solid and the areas that you’ve worked on which were bad. Try starting with a couple of basic pages that just have text in order to see how you do.
Stay with a layout that is basic and not all that confusing so that you don’t confuse yourself. Do this so that you get the basics down first then try your best to upgrade to an intermediate site and from there progress to a site that is more advanced in the end.
If you’re going to choose a software program to aid in the design of your website, you can save some serious cash by choosing a free, open-source program. Open-source programs are great not only because they’re free for public use, but also because they’re constantly updated and improved by users with a lot of web know-how.
Delete any spam that appears on your site. This helps keep your site looking great. Paying attention to your website is key in order to remove unwanted items from your site so it doesn’t get too cluttered.
When you are designing a website, you should ensure that your website is accessible and usable by everyone. It is extremely helpful to have a person from a foreign country check the site for you. Some content may not be displayed the same in other countries, so this is something you may want to check on.
Don’t overuse graphics. Pictures and other interesting graphics can be fun and visually pleasing, but keep in mind that those things take a long time to load on a site visitor’s computer. Opinions are also different, so what you think is a great visual touch might be unattractive to someone else. Keep graphics simple and site visitors will better concentrate on your products, services, and content.
Are you ready to create a great site? Use the above tips and continue to gain knowledge in order to design your dream page.