Do you have to rely on pre-made templates and software like FrontPage to design websites? The answer to that question is dependent upon your willingness to learn. You could go about things the lazy way and hire a third party to do the design. On the other hand, you can cultivate your own web design expertise and figure out how to build effective, economical websites for yourself by making use of tips like the ones below.
If you're going to put a logo on the website, link it back to send users to the home page. As time has gone on, people have come to expect that logos are clickable and will take them to a homepage. It is frustrating for them if the logo is just static, because this means they have to find your home link. This will make your site more seamless to navigate.
Use headlines throughout your website. Keywords will make your website more relevant to search engines and increase traffic to your site. It has to explain what the page is about so your visitor can quickly decide to stick around or not.
Make your own favicon. The little graphic will have your site looking more noticeable, especially if your visitors bookmark the site. When looking through their lists of bookmarks, a memorable favicon will make you stand out. Your favicon should, ideally, match your website's general theme and logo.
A general rule of thumb for search boxes is that the character length is a minimum of 2 characters, and that it is placed at the forefront of every page. Make sure the button that engages the search says "search" and not "submit" or "go". This will ensure your search box can be easily seen, used, and assist your visitors in discovering what they're searching for.
Imitation might be the best form of flattery, but when it comes to web design it's important to develop your own ideas. Create your own features and use what you see on other sites as a base for your ideas. Following through with this step will make your overall design more effective.
Let someone test the functionality of your site along the way. Each addition or change you make, needs to be double and tripled checked by multiple people. While you may not think your videos are loading slowly, a objective opinion may not agree. Use the wisdom of others who are outside your immediate circle to get an opinion.
Speak with people you know just to see if you missed something when you learned things like Dreamweaver, Photoshop or HTML. There is a lot to know about these programs, so make sure that you have absorbed the important elements and can easily utilize them when the need arises.
Never hire a web design professional who you are related to. Hiring a good friend or a relative to design your site may not be the best idea. If the work they perform is not satisfactory, you will have a difficult time letting someone go if you are close to them.
A well-written "About Us" page is worth the effort. Web designers often forget to be creative when they create the company bio area of the site. Try spicing things up! Share some information about yourself, your inspiration and your web design business.
If you are designing a very large site, you should always include search capabilities. Place a search box visibly on your homepage that helps your visitors search single terms that may appear anywhere on your site. If you can't code one yourself, Google and a few other websites offer free search functionality for websites with no programming required.
When adding bulky multimedia like videos to your site, consider the different connections with which people might be accessing it. You might want to convert your videos at 5,000 kb/s, but that may be a lot faster than someone's connection. Which translates into a slow video, buffering every few seconds.
You can create concept sketches before starting the coding of your site. These sketches can help you plan the look of your site and determine what your planned site may lack. It is an excellent starting point.
Speed is vital online, so be sure your pages load quickly. If Internet users have to wait a long time for your website to load, they will probably leave your site before it loads and vow never to return.
One thing web designers need to learn is to estimate the amount of time that common web design tasks will take. Hurrying the design process, in order to meet an unrealistic goal, only encourages shoddy work and creates new problems, that will have to be dealt with in the future. Instead, set realistic timeframes that enable you to give each step of the design process your full attention.
White is generally a safe background color to use when designing a professional website. When you have a white background, your content will be easy to read, and it will also make your site appear more professional and trustworthy. Giving your site a background featuring vibrant colors or complex patterns, though, can give an unprofessional impression and reduce the clarity of your site. It is usually best to keep a simple background.
Sign up for forums, newsletters and podcasts that discuss web design to help you keep up with the trends. Anyone can gain from the information contained in a newsletter, regardless of experience.
A successful website needs to work for visitors using any browser, so it is important to test your web pages to make sure they display properly in different browsers. What may work great in Firefox, may not work well in Internet Explorer or Chrome. Monitor how the pages look in major browsers before taking your website live.
Learning web design isn't as difficult as learning how to do open heart surgery. You don't need a formal education, and you aren't making any life or death decisions. As long as you can follow the tips you have learned above, you can design a great website today.
If you're going to put a logo on the website, link it back to send users to the home page. As time has gone on, people have come to expect that logos are clickable and will take them to a homepage. It is frustrating for them if the logo is just static, because this means they have to find your home link. This will make your site more seamless to navigate.
Use headlines throughout your website. Keywords will make your website more relevant to search engines and increase traffic to your site. It has to explain what the page is about so your visitor can quickly decide to stick around or not.
Make your own favicon. The little graphic will have your site looking more noticeable, especially if your visitors bookmark the site. When looking through their lists of bookmarks, a memorable favicon will make you stand out. Your favicon should, ideally, match your website's general theme and logo.
A general rule of thumb for search boxes is that the character length is a minimum of 2 characters, and that it is placed at the forefront of every page. Make sure the button that engages the search says "search" and not "submit" or "go". This will ensure your search box can be easily seen, used, and assist your visitors in discovering what they're searching for.
Imitation might be the best form of flattery, but when it comes to web design it's important to develop your own ideas. Create your own features and use what you see on other sites as a base for your ideas. Following through with this step will make your overall design more effective.
Let someone test the functionality of your site along the way. Each addition or change you make, needs to be double and tripled checked by multiple people. While you may not think your videos are loading slowly, a objective opinion may not agree. Use the wisdom of others who are outside your immediate circle to get an opinion.
Speak with people you know just to see if you missed something when you learned things like Dreamweaver, Photoshop or HTML. There is a lot to know about these programs, so make sure that you have absorbed the important elements and can easily utilize them when the need arises.
Never hire a web design professional who you are related to. Hiring a good friend or a relative to design your site may not be the best idea. If the work they perform is not satisfactory, you will have a difficult time letting someone go if you are close to them.
A well-written "About Us" page is worth the effort. Web designers often forget to be creative when they create the company bio area of the site. Try spicing things up! Share some information about yourself, your inspiration and your web design business.
If you are designing a very large site, you should always include search capabilities. Place a search box visibly on your homepage that helps your visitors search single terms that may appear anywhere on your site. If you can't code one yourself, Google and a few other websites offer free search functionality for websites with no programming required.
When adding bulky multimedia like videos to your site, consider the different connections with which people might be accessing it. You might want to convert your videos at 5,000 kb/s, but that may be a lot faster than someone's connection. Which translates into a slow video, buffering every few seconds.
You can create concept sketches before starting the coding of your site. These sketches can help you plan the look of your site and determine what your planned site may lack. It is an excellent starting point.
Speed is vital online, so be sure your pages load quickly. If Internet users have to wait a long time for your website to load, they will probably leave your site before it loads and vow never to return.
One thing web designers need to learn is to estimate the amount of time that common web design tasks will take. Hurrying the design process, in order to meet an unrealistic goal, only encourages shoddy work and creates new problems, that will have to be dealt with in the future. Instead, set realistic timeframes that enable you to give each step of the design process your full attention.
White is generally a safe background color to use when designing a professional website. When you have a white background, your content will be easy to read, and it will also make your site appear more professional and trustworthy. Giving your site a background featuring vibrant colors or complex patterns, though, can give an unprofessional impression and reduce the clarity of your site. It is usually best to keep a simple background.
Sign up for forums, newsletters and podcasts that discuss web design to help you keep up with the trends. Anyone can gain from the information contained in a newsletter, regardless of experience.
A successful website needs to work for visitors using any browser, so it is important to test your web pages to make sure they display properly in different browsers. What may work great in Firefox, may not work well in Internet Explorer or Chrome. Monitor how the pages look in major browsers before taking your website live.
Learning web design isn't as difficult as learning how to do open heart surgery. You don't need a formal education, and you aren't making any life or death decisions. As long as you can follow the tips you have learned above, you can design a great website today.
No comments:
Post a Comment