Web page design is a good thing to learn if you want to make extra money. Website design can either be used to create sites for yourself or for someone else. You can work on websites in your spare time which is perfect if you need a flexible schedule but still make money.

Your website should include a prominently displayed tagline. This expresses exactly what your business offers. This will give the visitor a quick first impression of what you’re about.

Make sure you put your website through the NoScript test. This is a Firefox extension you can download, and it will check your site’s readability. Some content, such as ordering systems for products, can’t work without scripts, but if your site is simply blank with scripts turned off, that’s bad news.

Have a visible tagline. Using a tagline simply means that you will need to come up with a quick statement that lets visitors know what your site is all about. It’s important to use a tagline that is clear since you have about eight seconds when someone goes to your page to get them interested in exploring your entire website.

Search Box

Have a search element included so visitors can search your website content. If those visiting your site are looking for something specific, the first thing they will look for is a search box. If your site is not equipped with one, visitors may go to an alternate site. Put the search box near the top right side of the page, since that tends to be common.

Try not to use JavaScript too much. It does provide more ways for you to build a responsive and transparent site, but it can be problematic for some visitors. No two web browsers are the same, and each one offers up new versions on a regular basis. Not all visitors have the most current version of their browser. Many people turn off Javascript, or disallow it on a site they don’t visit regularly. In either case, you are preventing your visitors from using all or some of the features of your website.

A site that is going to be successful must work with all browsers. This is why it is vital that you test all your pages to ensure that they properly display in all the various browsers. A site that works on Internet Explorer might not display right in Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. Before you website is launched, test the display of each page in all major browsers.

Post pictures on your site. Having pictures on your website gives off a more user-friendly approach to your site. Many people enjoy pictures.

Don’t use many fonts as you design your page. Also, think about the way various fonts look on a standard screen. Little serif fonts (such as Times New Roman) can be difficult to read. Many sites prefer Verdana, which is readable in many sizes and colors.

Photoshop is a great tool that novice designers should invest in to help make better looking web designs. Photoshop or other similar programs, can advance you into a professional arena quickly. When you do not possess a program like this one, it can be extremely difficult and time consuming to get enough information to build an appealing site fast.

Use free alternatives to pay web design software whenever possible. While many will say it is the expensive software that makes a difference in your site, however there are some free options that can offer nearly as much. You just have to search a little to locate the free tools that best suit you.

Make sure that the font you are using looks professional, and is easy to read. Most corporate sites use just a few basic fonts. Don’t use handwriting or comic fonts as most people won’t have them installed. If a site visitor has not installed a certain font on his or her computer, it may display as a default font. Your site can look bad when this happens.

If you plan to have multiple websites down the road, then consider reserving their domain names, now. The reason this is a problem is that you need to be creative and the names should match your sites but others may have the same name chosen so lock them up right away. You never know when someone else is thinking about the same name and type of website as you. Great minds often think alike.

As you begin to develop your website creation skills, you should start small. Build a series of simple sites, then use them to identify areas for improvement. If you begin by creating only a few pages, it will be easier to gradually build your confidence.

Elicit feedback from your visitors. If you have forgotten something or have made an element of your site confusing to use, they will be able to tell you. Remember, when your visitors feel like they are involved with your website, they are more likely to make repeat visits.

Keep the literacy level of your audience in mind when writing content. Realize that most people aren’t as educated and sophisticated enough to understand all that fancy writing, and that might turn them off and leave your site. When expanding your audience, you’ll need to expand the content to encompass these new readers.

Web Host

Check with your web host before adding videos to your site, as some hosts will not allow it. Some hosts do not permit videos to be hosted on their servers. All of the FLV files occupy a huge amount of server space, so there is no point setting up a website to accept them if your web host can’t make the space.

Keep all of the site files you use as small as possible, regardless of design. Your file sizes have a lot to do with the speed of your site loading. You want the speediest load times possible. You should also keep in mind that not every visitor will be using a high speed Internet connection. Test to be sure that even computers with slow dial-up modems can connect quickly to your website.

Security is the most crucial thing for your site. Any site that needs vital personal information such as credit cards and PayPal accounts, it is advisable you purchase an SSL certificate. In addition, talk to your host about the security features they might have available.

You can see if your website is interesting by checking the statistics of it. You’ll see what pages your site’s visitors are going to the most. This will give you an idea on what to update to keep them coming back for more.

Given everything that you picked up from this piece, you ought to have a better grasp of what website development entails. By using what you have learned here you can build a website with confidence.

Be sure you’re using ALT tags for the images while you design a website. If someone cannot pull up the image, these tags let them know what should be in the space. If images are links, your ALT tags can help you describe the link’s behavior, too. Finally, ALT tags are used by search engine crawlers; therefore, using them can help boost your search rank.