Knowing how to use a website and knowing how to build a website are two entirely different things. Playing around with HTML and adding design features takes quite a bit of skill. You should learn more about website development if you’d like a good-looking site. Keep reading for handy advice you can use.
Have a visible tagline. A tagline is seen as a statement that tells people what a business’s site is about. You only have about 10 seconds to gain and keep hold of your visitors’ attention from the time they first hit your site.
Pay attention to the colors on your website to make sure they match. You have to be certain that your text will be readable on top of the background colors you use. Using dark colored text on a light colored background generally ensures that the text is easy for visitors to read. Soliciting feedback from a friend can help you determine how effective your color scheme is if you develop doubts about it.
Incorporate a tagline prominently on your website. Taglines are catchy mottos that explain your business. Use a clear line to keep the visitors on your website.
Display Correctly
It is essential to test the pages in your website to be certain they look as they should on every different browser; a successful site needs to display correctly in all browsers. A webpage that displays properly using Internet Explorer, could appear incorrectly or poorly on a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome. Therefore, check to see that all pages display correctly in all the large browsers prior to your site going live.
Is your site easy to scan? Studies have shown that internet users scan pages to find interesting articles. Having text in certain areas to create a more bold appearance will catch the attention of readers who quickly scan each page. Important content that you do not want visitors to miss should always be placed at the top of each page. These techniques assure that the visitor to your page will find what they want fast and this results in higher satisfaction for your readers.
We are no longer in the 20th century, so try to avoid frames. The fact is that while frames were popular in the past, they were simply one of many early techniques that were necessary then but are not today. They are the stone wheel of the Internet generation and should not be used today. Visitors may find it difficult to scroll or bookmark your design when a frame design is present. You can use much simpler methods to allow your users a way to navigate your content.
Learn web page design shortcuts and make good use of them. There are many shortcuts that can be used when designing your website. Learn as much as you can about shortcuts. It doesn’t take that long to learn about the HTML code that you can insert into your website’s design to help you edit any page without having to upload the page again.
Use Photoshop to create attractive websites if you are a beginner. Photoshop really speeds up the development of even complex websites. You will expend a lot of extra time and lessen your chances of creating a professional site if you neglect investing in programs such as Photoshop.
Learning about design on the web is much easier as you practice. Start with simple pages of HTML until you have a handle on the fundamentals. Practice, as they say, makes perfect!
You want to have a site that is easy to navigate, if you want to attract visitors. It should be painless to locate important links and other information. A navigation menu will also help visitors locate exactly what they’re looking for. Post links that lead back to the homepage on each page of your website to make navigation easier for your users.
Start investing in books and resources that help you learn to be successful with your web design. Start with books around your skill level, so that you don’t skip any necessary information.
In order to be a successful web designer, you will have to become familiar with Html5. If you aren’t familiar with html5 then you’re going to have a lot of work to accomplish in the future so get your mind ready and start learning,
When starting, only post small amounts of content. Don’t give in to the temptation to fill your site up with dross just to make it look full. You’ll only have to remove non-valuable content later.
Don’t pile on the graphics. Although graphics are necessary make your site project a professional, well-designed and cohesive look, having too many can make it look cluttered. Graphics should improve your site, not just pretty it up. The right number of graphics improves look and functionality without crowding the page.
Target Audience
When you make a website you should look for a target audience or just ask them what kinds of things you site should have on it. This helps you gear your website to what your target audience really wants. When you get advice from the audience you’re targeting it can help you with what your site should be like.
Entertain with graphics. You need to do text wraps around images to avoid a bland-looking site. If your website is nice, you will get more return visitors.
Design your front page to be a minimal as possible. 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. Be clear about what your company is about, but be concise.
Make your design different than that of other sites in your niche. It’s easy to see what others are doing by visiting their site. It will be nearly impossible to stand out from the pack if your site is too similar to everyone else’s. You’ll be the Brand X generic version of the site that was up before yours was.
Learn many server-side languages if you want to diversify your web page design portfolio. For example, learn Java, ASP, PHP and MySQL so you are prepared for any client who approaches tou. Whether your interest in site design is recreational or exclusively professional, you must always be motivated to take it to the next level.
Sketch out how your site will be organized through a visual sitemap. This will help you plan things out much more effectively. With this sitemap, you will be able to track how the structure of your website is developing. You can also look and identify any areas that could use some improvement on, or areas that you feel could just be different. Nothing is more important that maintaining a visual element that is clear.
Leave off frames if you want to design a well optimized site. While they improve your site’s looks, any information contained in a frame is not indexed by search engines. Your rating will not be very high if search engines can’t see some of your important info. You won’t get as many visitors.
When creating multiple pages in a subcategory of your website, the copy/paste feature of your PC is your best friend! Rather than taking the time to constantly start from scratch with HTML coding, just copy existing content and re-save it with a new name. The index page can be worked off of ad infinitum.
If you design websites, think like an artist. This means that you should be prepared to receive inspiration as it occurs. Draw sketches for possible design ideas when you think of something interesting. If something occurs while you’re working, leave yourself a text message on your cellphone so you will remember it later on.
Having read the tips from this article, you can understand that website design is not terribly complicated. It does take skill, though, so you will need the tips shared here. Use these tips every day to create better websites.
Make sure you site is optimized for previous versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, especially IE 7 and 8. Most people do not like Internet Explorer, but others still use it. Unfortunately, many aspects of your site may not be compatible or displayed properly due to outdated rendering standards, so you may have to create some fixes for the elements that do not work properly. One tip of utter importance when dealing with the older Internet Explorer browsers is to educate yourself on the bug referred to as box model that haunted them for years.
