Rather than hiring a company to do your website creation, you can learn to do it yourself. While most people think that web design is difficult, and it was years ago, it has come a long way in terms of how easy it is for the normal person to do. Read this article to gain some fantastic information.

Web Browser

A good website should display and function in any type of web browser, so it is vital that you test your website in every browser currently on the market. If something works in Chrome it might not work in Firefox, for example. Prior to releasing your website to the public, you should verify that all of your webpages appear as intended on every popular web browser.

Choosing the right graphics can either make or break a website. Keep in mind that bitmap images are quit large. For this reason, they don’t work well; however, PNG images work very well indeed. 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. Try using JPEGs for photos.

You should always take time to removed old, irrelevant content. If you have a page that is promoting some type of special event that already went on six months ago, then you have lost readers. It is an expectation from users that you maintain the site and keep your information fresh, or else they think your site is ill-kept or abandoned. Create a regular schedule for updating the content of your page, and weed out anything that has become irrelevant.

Programs are available to assist you in creating an attractive website. Programs are available to assist you in creating your websites that look professional. If you have a site that looks bad, you won’t attract the visitors you need.

Consider investing the time and cost to use Adobe Photoshop software to enhance your website. Even without professional training, a web designer with a good grasp of Photoshop can turn out attractive, useful websites very quickly. Building a site from scratch can be overwhelming for amateur designers, so take advantage of design tools and programs that can do some of the heavy lifting for you.

Make sure the color combinations that you use on your site don’t hinder their ability to be read. The text on your web pages, in particular, needs to be clear and easy to read on the colors you choose for your backgrounds. It is typically easier to see darker lettering that is set upon light backgrounds than the reverse. When in doubt about the effectiveness of your color choices, solicit the opinions of friends.

Make sure the content on your website is compelling and interesting. The appearance of the site design is crucial, but content keeps visitors coming back. Visitors are likely to return to your website if they find the content informative and it fulfills their needs.

Alt Tags

Remember to use ALT tags on any images you use in your website. These tags are important for your website and people that disable graphics. You can also optimize links further if the images you have are shown as links. The ALT tags will bring up the search rank of your site because search engine crawlers use them as well.

Let users cancel actions if they desire. This might include completing forms, browsing your site, or registering for newsletters. Not allowing customers to cancel actions that they do not want to follow through with is unfair, and it is forceful, which may prevent those visitors from returning to your site or making purchases from you in the future.

The file types will affect the load time of your website. Your graphics should normally be GIFs or JPEGs. You want to avoid PNG or BMP files as these take up too much memory space. Keep your graphics at a reasonable size to save space.

Optimize your website to ensure fast load times. If visitors have to wait too long, they will likely leave. Reduce graphics, scripts and Flash consoles on your web page, optimize HTML and utilize SSI files.

Having a website counter at the bottom of your page is really an unattractive feature. Although it may be something that you find valuable, your visitors are not interested in seeing it. Get rid of it and use other ways to see how many people have visited your site.

Minimize the use of JavaScript. While it is useful in delivering a more interactive experience, it can create problems for various visitors. Each web browser is different, and each has a new version on a regular basis. It is often the case that people don’t rush to get the latest version. On top of this, some visitors will have JavaScript disabled in their browsers. These problems will lead to people not being able to use your site.

You may hear many people talk about the difficulty of coding but those are individuals doing a site from scratch the hard, though admirable way. You are going to go the simple route and build a site that is just as attractive and functional as they would by doing it the hard way. Now that you read the above tips, you see how simple it really is. Just use the advice you found here and your site will soon be impressing everyone who sees it.