Hiring a site design expert can be a pretty costly adventure for business owners. If you are considering building your first website, you can save money by doing it yourself. You don’t want to cut corners, though. The expert advice below will guide you.
When you design a site, pull it up in various browsers. Make sure it looks good on every browser. Make sure that your site is compatible with all popular browsers. It’s also a good idea to test out your website on different operating systems.
Color Schemes
Make sure you have the right background. There are sites out there that use animated GIF images for their backgrounds. This might be OK for a personal site, but it can also be a serious distraction that makes it hard for readers to focus on the text. Chose a background that complements your website’s content, rather than a background that clashes with your website’s content. Your website’s visitors will then find it easier to read your website’s content.
Be careful with your color schemes while designing your site. Your text should be easy to see against your background. The better choice is using darker fonts against backgrounds that are lighter. Ask someone to look at your color schemes to ensure you are making the right choice.
Incorporate a search function that lets visitors find what they need. Those searching for specific information will instantly scan for a search option. If your site does not have one, expect them to find a site that does. Always put the search box on the page’s upper right corner, since this is where visitors usually look first.
Don’t make page sizes too big. For customers with slower Internet speeds, a slow loading site can cause loss of interest. If it takes too long many will just leave and visit a different website.
Make use of keyword research. Your customers should always be the top focus, but search engine optimization is still necessary to bring those customers to your pages. Knowing the right keywords to make people find you through the search engines is key.
Retain user information so that people don’t have to waste valuable time re-typing information into forms. For instance, if someone fills out a form using personal information, he or she should have to enter that same information in again when he or she goes to fill out an additional form. Doing this will make everything much easier for the people that visit your page, and they will definitely appreciate the time saved.
Create an opt-in newsletter to entice your visitors to return often. This is great for captivating someone whom may have viewed your site, but then gone on to forget about it entirely. Place the signup form in a sidebar on your site, and keep track of the people that sign up. Send your newsletter only to those who have signed up; doing otherwise is considered spam.
It’s not going to be an easy journey from newbie to design expert. The chances are that you will make a few mistakes along the way. But as long as you can apply the information you have learned throughout this article, you will begin to understand what website creation entails and how you can build a great website that will attract customers.
New web designers who are aiming to create an appealing website, should utilize Photoshop. Using this type of program can assist beginning web designers in creating sites that look professional, extremely quickly. 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.
