Some people, and you may be included in this group, think that every website is pretty much the same. If you feel that way, browse through Facebook and then look at a site that is hosted on Google. You should notice the massive difference between the two rapidly, showing how important website design is. Here are some solid suggestions on how to make website development work for you.
Speed is vital online, so be sure your pages load quickly. If a visitor has to sit and wait for several minutes while your pages load, they are almost certainly going to click away from your site and go somewhere else, and they probably will not come back to your site.
Using a fixed position navigation will help your users use it with ease. By locking the menu to a fixed point on the screen, you can make sure it is constantly visible to the user regardless of where they scroll to on the screen. It benefits virtually everyone who will visit your site.
There are a lot of web design programs available for sale, and they can help you create a great website. Professional grade programs have the tools to help you create a site without having to code everything from scratch. If your website does not look good, then you will not have many visitors on your site.
With large websites, it’s always best to add in good search capabilities. On your homepage in the corner to the upper right-hand, you can add a search box which lets users search for a term on your site. You can find search functions to use for your site on sites like Google.
Alt Tags
You will need to pass the NoScript test. Download this extension in Firefox and see how your site looks. 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.
As you add images, use ALT tags. These tags can describe pictures for people who cannot see them for one reason or another. You can also optimize links further if the images you have are shown as links. Also, search engine crawlers use ALT tags, so your site is going to rank higher.
White is a great choice for a background color. It’s simplistic, yet has a lot of potential at adding flare and color elsewhere. White puts the focus on the content, making it easier to read. If you are trying to to exude a professional tone, a white background lends a trustworthy feeling to your site. Complex backgrounds distract your readers and visitors, and might slant your page towards an unprofessional image. With backgrounds the simpler, the better.
Your website should be optimized for the older versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, such as IE7 and also IE8. Although many people loathe Internet Explorer, many people surfing the Internet do it on older versions of this web browser. These do not render the web elements to the web standard, so there must be workarounds. In particular, learn about the famous “box model bug”, an old thorn in IE.
Let visitors cancel actions if they want to. This includes completing forms, enrolling in email newsletters and searching the site to find certain information. 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.
Use professional-looking, and readable fonts. The quality of a professional website is measured by it’s fonts. Do not employ exotic fonts that will be absent from many visitors’ computers or over-used fonts such as Comic Sans. Unique fonts tend to default on most user’s computers if it’s not available to them. This often looks terrible.
Keep in mind that the Internet contains a plethora of website design examples. When you need inspiration, you can browse through the almost limitless websites online. Find a site you admire, figure out why you like it, and determine whether or not you can improve upon its premise. Remember that you can’t just steal ideas if your site is to be successful. Take those ideas and improve them.
It would be nice, but it takes a big budget to create a website as profitable as Twitter or Facebook. There is quite a bit of amazing competition out there already! That said, you can create a perfectly competent site that has many of the same features as major corporate sites if you study web page design for a while. Start writing down ideas and remember to apply these tips to create a great website.
Choose a good background. You don’t want your text to be hard to read! A distracting background is…well, distracting. Pick a background that meshes with your site, not against it, and your viewers will have a much easier time understanding what you want to say.