Designing a website can seem very complex if you have never done it before. However, after you learn what you need to know, you’ll see that it’s pretty simple. Using the information in this piece will help you design an appealing, functional site to suit your needs.
Ease of navigation is an important factor in how appealing visitors find your website. Place your links so they can be found easily. Menus also make site navigation much easier. Link to the main page from every other page of the site so that visitors can easily find important information.
Ensure that your website can pass the NoScript test. Download NoScript and activate the Firefox extension. This will tell you if your website can be read. Some ordering systems or other types of content cannot run script-free, but if the site is blank without the script on, that’s not good.
One tool amateur web designers should use when creating graphics for their sites is Adobe Photoshop. Using a program that has great reviews behind it can help speed up the time it takes to create a website. It can take a lot more time to build a nice site if you don’t use top-notch software.
Site Visitors
Always provide site visitors with an option to offer feedback. This will let them communicate with you if they feel something is missing, or they do not understand what they see on your webpage, and you will be able to fix it. If your site visitors feel actively involved in the process, they will be return viewers.
Your site must be simple to navigate if you want to attract visitors. Ensure that links are easy discovered and displayed in a prominent location. You can also improve your website’s navigation by using simple menus. Post links that lead back to the homepage on each page of your website to make navigation easier for your users.
Be sure your site can handle Internet Explorer, both new and old versions. Most people do not like Internet Explorer, but others still use it. These do not render the web elements to the web standard, so there must be workarounds. Make sure you look at the very vexing “box model bug” that IE experienced.
Be sure you take care of the people that use your site’s needs. The web designer must know what the readers are looking for at all times. This is going to have everything to do with accessibility and usability, as well as different types of social interaction. You should consider these issues as you go about your work. Look at the site through the eyes of a user as you design.
Test your site on multiple browsers, platforms (Windows 7, Windows XP, Linux, etc.) and devices (Mac, PC, tablets, cell phones, etc.) Different browsers will read and display a site in different ways, which can have some unintended results for site visitors. You should find out the top five to ten browsers. It is very crucial that you test your website with all of the browsers, and that will include all of the main mobile web browsers.
Don’t make your page sizes any larger than necessary. The users with poor Internet speeds will have a tough time if you do not. Reduce your load times so visitors have no reason to leave.
The harder you are willing to work at learning about site design skills, the easier it will be to master them. Start simple pages with C+ and HTML to test your fundamentals. Remember that practice makes perfect and that you have to start somewhere.
It should be clear that website creation isn’t as hard as it seems, once you know a bit about it. It will be simple for you to create inspiring websites if you continue to learn about the technologies involved. Start with applying the advice you read and you should be able to design a good first website.