Many people falsely believe that flashier websites are best, but that’s almost never true. Sites with success keep their pages simple in order to allow visitors to find what they are looking for. Keep reading to learn how to create a simple and clean site.
When designing webpages it is important that you use the correct graphics. PNGs are currently the best standard for graphics online. For simple text buttons or graphics that aren’t photographs, use PNG for files that are 256 colors or larger. Use a GIF file for anything less than 256. For photos, you can use JPEG images.
Keep your content interesting and entertaining. The overall design is always important, but it’s even more important to use content that keeps visitors coming back for more. Visitors are likely to return to your website if they find the content informative and it fulfills their needs.
When you design a web page, always choose the graphics that are appropriate for your purposes. BMP files are large and can slow down a website. 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. For photos, JPEG images work well.
Alt Tags
Remember to use ALT tags on any images you use in your website. Tags such as these are key because for those who browse without graphics or who are vision problems, the tags provide descriptions of the images. If the images are links, the tags let you describe the link as well. ALT tags are also used by crawlers and this can boost your ranking.
Make sure you optimize your website for older Internet Explorer versions like IE7 and IE8. Lots of people grumble about IE, but they still use it, and they often use outdated versions. This creates problems for web designers, but there are things that can be done. Make sure to look at the infamous “box model bug,” which has been an issue for IE for several years.
Web designers gave frames the boot in the 90’s. Frames worked well in the earlier days, but there are too many flaws in the design. Using frames makes it hard for viewers to bookmark your website and can make scrolling a chore. A number of better ways exist that make it easy for users to navigate your site.
Always provide text content for links when you set up the design of your website. Your visitors should know exactly what they’re heading for when they click on a link. Links on a site page without content, visitors can accidentally click on links.
Make sure your load times are low. People are more likely to leave your site if the load time is too long. When you reduce your graphics and other fancy elements, you will speed up access to your pages and retain your visitors.
Use professional-looking, and readable fonts. A site’s look can hinge on whether or not it’s fonts are professional. Avoid silly, bubbly or hard to read fonts and especially avoid obscure fonts that may not be supported by all browsers. If a visitor doesn’t have a font on his computer, his browser may display a default font that doesn’t look right. Sometimes this looks worse, but often times it helps the reader who otherwise may not have been able to read your website clearly.
Do not go overboard with graphics. They are good for making your site more professional, but too much looks messy. Use graphics for improvement, not decoration. Having the right mix of graphics will improve your site’s usability, too.
You have a wealth of information online you can refer to when you’re stuck in a site design jam. You can get inspiration for any one of the millions of sites already out there. Find a site you admire, figure out why you like it, and determine whether or not you can improve upon its premise. Expand on those appealing aspects to help you build your own website. Then, improve on the design elements you like.
As mentioned earlier, flash websites are visually attractive, but the load times are not worth it. You can find success when you keep things simple and quick to load. The tips above can help you achieve that goal.
