A website built by a savvy web designer can be a very beautiful thing. Effective web designs can help you distinguish successful designs from mediocre ones. The best way to design an excellent website is to take some time to learn as much as possible before you begin. Try increasing your knowledge base with the following tips and advice, and you should see an immediate improvement in your ability to design well.
Use the proper graphic tools for web page design. PNGs work much better than bitmap images, which are huge. For non-photographic images, text buttons, and screen shots, use PNG or GIF. Use JPEG format for all photos on your website.
Your site should be able to be scanned easily. Most visitors won’t actually read everything you write and will skim for what they want. Emphasized text is more easily scanned and helps readers along, also better ensuring they return. You should put the important stuff on top. Your visitors will enjoy their time on the website more.
Make sure you give your users the option to cancel a given action if they choose to. For example, allow users to cancel registration for newsletters or easily back out of a search. When you do not allow visitors to cancel something they do not wish to complete, you are forcing them into something, which can prove detrimental to fostering return visits and/or purchases.
Use shortcuts often. Many things have shortcuts when it comes to website development, and by taking the time to learn them, you will find faster ways of doing many different tasks. For example, you can use certain HTML codes to make very quick changes without needing to re-load.
Make sure you research the keywords that do well. You definitely want to focus first on providing relevant content, but keywords should be planted appropriately to help you grow that customer base. Knowing what keywords people use to find your site via search engines is a must for your website to succeed.
Do not use pop-up windows. Many consumers are bothered when they visit a site and are suddenly bombarded by pop-ups. This often causes people to leave a site, meaning they never take the time to get to know your product. Your customers will be much happier if you give these types of advertisement a wide swerve. If your host forces pop-ups on you, it may be time to find a new one.
When designing a site, use free software. Do not listen to people who tell you that you can’t design and operate a website without relying on pricey software packages; you can find a free alternative for virtually every task. Do some searching and you’ll find some excellent free tools to use.
Never use an overabundance of conflicting fonts on your website. Learn how to use generic fonts to make your site look more uniform. Verdana is a font used by many sites. It is easy to read in most sizes and colors.
Make sure the content on your website is interesting. The actual site design “look” is important, but content is king. If visitors are able to find what they need, they will come back again at some point.
Keep the front page of your website simple. People shopping around will immediately decide whether they will use your site or not, simply by how your front page looks. Describe your business in detail and what it does, but keep other distractions and details to a minimum.
Learning how to design good websites becomes even simpler the more you do it. Begin by creating basic pages with HTML or C++; this will allow you to judge how well you are doing. Practice has to start sometime, so get to it sooner than later.
Many hosts have website tools available. While you can use these tools for basic design, it’s not a great idea to completely rely upon them. Once you have used the web host’s site builder to its fullest extent, seek ways to infuse your website with elements of your personality.
Text Editor
Research your subject thoroughly. Should you plan to make a blog, it is imperative to be well versed on the topic you are blogging about. Being unclear with customers or giving false information will drive readers away. Knowing your topic is the way to build a great blog.
Whilst development platforms can be helpful as they create your web code for you, some of them can be very unreliable, and you may actually find using a generic text editor is a better option. Utilizing a platform allows you to focus on the design aspects of the website, while having the platform handle the technical aspect of creating the code. However, this can lead to errors, so you may prefer coding your site by hand with a text editor.
Adobe Dreamweaver is a great program to try if you need to create a website. Even novices can understand this program quickly. It allows you to create your own templates, save your favorite layouts, add the features you want and preview your site before it is permanent.
Add flair and value to your site by utilizing graphics. You will want text to wrap around pictures so it isn’t boring. A site that looks like the owner cares and put a lot of time into it will attract more people to it, and maybe they will become one of your customers.
Refrain from including frames on your site. The information in the frames won’t show in search engines. If the search engines can’t view this important information, then you’re not going to fare well in the search engine rankings. Your visitors will be few if this happens.
If you want to host any type of video on your website, make sure to first check with the web host to be positive that this is something that is allowed. Some servers do not have the ability to host videos. If your host uses a public server, video files may consume too much space. Therefore, it is important to verify this beforehand.
Website Creation
A well-designed webpage is a real thing of beauty, if you know what you’re doing. It’s pretty easy to distinguish excellent website creation for terrible website creation, but it may be harder to articulate some of the subtle things that need to be learned to make a website great. By following the previously mentioned tips, you’ll create web pages that are a pleasure to view.
Make your website as fast as possible. If visitors have to wait too long, they will likely leave. Reduce file sizes, graphics and fancy coding to bring your pages down to acceptable load times.