Though there are many tools that can help you design a website, your personal touch cannot be beaten. The key to creating an amazing website is using your vision and bringing it to life. If you use the right tools, your dreams can come true. The information that follows will help you learn more about website creation.
256 Colors
The graphics you use are important. Bitmap images require a lot of disk space and are unwieldy. For images that are not photographs, use PNG format for over 256 colors. If under 256 colors, use GIF format. JPEGs are ideal for photographs.
Use a newsletter to gain repeat visitors. You can keep your visitors informed about important events, updates, and changes when they sign up for a newsletter, and the flow of information will often tempt them to revisit your site. You can incorporate a form in the sidebar of the site and track users that sign up. Do not distribute the newsletter to people who have not specifically requested it; otherwise, recipients might become irritated.
It is important to make use of forums and other information avenues to keep up with new ideas in website creation. You can find the answer to almost any website design question by simply searching with your favorite search engine.
Remember, frames are a thing of the past and while revisiting past memories can be fun, adding outdated frames will only make your designs appear to be zombies from the world wide web graveyard. Frames were popular once, but they have entirely too many flaws. Designs on frames can make it hard for people to get your site bookmarked and they won’t like scrolling either. A number of better ways exist that make it easy for users to navigate your site.
Keep your homepage simple. People judge a site and whether they want to go further by what the initial webpage looks like. Make sure that you provide a very clear description about your business or other purpose for your site. Other information on your site should be minimal, but still clear, so that you don’t overwhelm your visitors.
You must always include the capability to search if you are working on a large website. At the top right of every page in your site, incorporate a search box which will let visitors search for a term that appears on your site. FreeFind and Google both distribute a search function which you can use on your site.
Resist any temptation to use pop-up windows when you design your website. Though there are some uses for pop-ups, they are often considered an annoyance. Every pop-up window you throw in front of your website visitors increases the likelihood that they will abandon your website in frustration. Once they leave, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be coming back.
When the time comes that you must choose your webpage’s background color, be mindful of the effectiveness and conservative choice that white is. Having a white background tends to make the website easier to view and read and it also gives it a professional look that makes it appear more trustworthy. However, intricate background images are often difficult to pull off; more often than not they appear sloppy and distracting. For backgrounds, simpler is usually preferable.
It is very important that customers can navigate any website easily. Navigation links are important for visitors to stay on your site. You need a neat navigation structure that is consistent and easy to use for viewers to better use and enjoy your site.
A simple way to increase your sites attractiveness is to make use of pictures you have taken. Pictures help make your website more user-friendly. When people see pictures they tend to spend more time looking at your site and cannot wait to click on the next picture.
Be mindful of what particular file type you use for graphics, since that impacts file sizes and load times for users. You should use GIFs or JPEGs for graphics. Just because PNG and BMP files can be more suited to web graphics, they can use a lot more disk space. Convert your images to file types that are smaller and easier to manage if you want a guaranteed great user experience.
Test your site on multiple browsers, platforms (Windows 7, Windows XP, Linux, etc.) and devices (Mac, PC, tablets, cell phones, etc.) Each individual browser will interpret your site differently, and sometimes, the user experience varies dramatically between each browser. You should find out the top five to ten browsers. Test the website on all browsers, even the popular mobile ones.
Test your site as much as possible. It is essential to do usability tests early in the developing phase. As your website grows test it.
Stay away from pop-up windows as part of your design. They may seem helpful, but they are seen as more annoying by visitors than not. When pop-up windows come up, you are quickly bringing frustration to your visitors. This may make them leave your website and not come back again.
One great website creating program is Adobe Dreamweaver. Even beginners can easily understand how to use this program. It is loaded with options that allow for template creation, special features and the ability to preview a site as well as test it before it goes live.
To show that you care about the quality content on your website, always that the time to carefully proofread. Your goal is for people to be able to read it easily and quickly. When you have errors on your site it really looks unprofessional and people won’t take you or your site seriously which can hurt it’s reputation.
If you are planning to design and run your own website, you’ll need an office space from which to work. Eliminate distractions and maximize efficiency of the work space, so you are always ready to work. It is invaluable to keep all that you need at your fingertips at all times, in order to make smooth and efficient design choices.
You must be sure that your site is optimized properly so that it can be viewed in all browsers. People may say they dislike Internet Explorer, but a majority of them still use it. Since many elements are not up-to-date you will have to work around it. For instance, IE has suffered a “box model bug” for multiple years.
Never stop learning if you want your website design to keep growing. Once you understand one aspect of web page design, you should move on to another. This could lengthen the time it takes to build your initial site, but you’ll learn how to expertly crank them out by the time you’re done.
To get creative, try looking around you for unusual layouts. Keep your eyes open when watching television program or reading magazines. Be on the lookout, because you never know when you will find something to get you motivated.
Website Creation
Meta tags used on each page of your site, can increase visitors to your site. This is an important design consideration. High-quality meta tags will let the search engines know what your website is about. If you have poorly thought out the meta tags that have no reflection on what your sites content is, you will not be getting many visitors.
You can use Flash, Java and other website creation tools once you learn the basics of website creation. Your site can be fancy or it can be just a plain and simple one. Its appearance is totally up to you. The crucial part is that you follow the tips that you have just read.
