Have you found yourself on a site before wondering how they pulled off that kind of site design? From layout to graphic design, there are many elements which turn a website from good to great. This article will help you to learn many tips and tricks which the pros are already using. Read on to find secrets you can only learn here!
If you are designing a website, choose proper graphics. Remember, bitmap images can get quite large and often don’t work very well while PNG images work fine. Use a GIF instead if the image contains over 256 colors and PNG for test buttons and screen shots. JPEG files are best for photographs.
Ensure that your website can pass the NoScript test. Download and run the NoScript extension on Firefox and find out if the site is readable? Some content, such as ordering systems for products, can’t work without scripts, but if your site is simply blank with scripts turned off, that’s bad news.
Frames have not been used in website development since the 90’s. The fact is that while frames were popular in the past, they were simply one of many early techniques that were necessary then but are not today. They are the stone wheel of the Internet generation and should not be used today. A website that uses frames can cause trouble for visitors when they try to bookmark a site, and no one wants to spend their time scrolling on a website needlessly. Use a different technique to help visitors organize information.
Don’t overdo it with graphics. Graphics are critical, but they can also clutter up a page. Graphics are not to be used for decorative purposes only. They need to add true content to the site. Having the right amount of graphics improves your website’s usability.
Web Browsers
Frames went out in the 90s, so do not rely on them. Frames were of great use in the early days of web design, but it had a lot of flaws. Frame designs make it harder for readers to bookmark your site and scrolling becomes a chore. Use other ways to make your site easier to navigate instead.
You should not go overboard using JavaScript. While Java opens many doors towards an interactive website experience, a lot of Internet surfers are going to have difficulty with it. Each web browser is different, and each has a new version on a regular basis. Many visitors use outdated versions of various web browsers, which means your code might not be supported. Also, many people do not enable JavaScript in web browsers. Both of these things mean that these users are prevented from using your site.
Research keywords. Although you want to mainly focus on providing relevant content to your viewers, it is important to first establish a healthy customer base. To make sure that people find your website more easily, you’ll need to learn what keywords are and how to use them effectively.
If you want your site to be more appealing, include photos you have taken. Those photos can give your site a lot of personality. People will take more time browsing your site and looking at pictures.
Make use of keyword research. You definitely want to focus first on providing relevant content, but keywords should be planted appropriately to help you grow that customer base. You need to understand the proper keywords that will attract visitors to your website.
Make use of free software in your site setup. Don’t be fooled into believing that pricey software is what you have to use; there are many free tools that can get your site up and running. Just perform a simple search and you’re sure to find some wonderful tools.
Know your subject. For instance, if your site is meant for blogging, know about the topic before writing about it. Publishing inaccuracies and falsehoods will glean you a bad reputation, causing you to lose readers. Having a good blog involves having an education on your subject.
Use Photoshop if you want to create stellar websites. Photoshop is a program that individuals new to web page design can use to quickly create professional level pages. Not having this software can lead to a design which looks amateurish and untrusthworthy.
Make sure that you include efficient search capabilities when you’re designing a large website. Put a search box in the uppermost right-hand corner of your homepage so that users can seek specific topics on your site. Search functions for websites are available from FreeFind and Google.
Meta Tags
If you want your site to become more visible to online users, you must learn to use proper meta tags for each page. Having some meta tags that offer quality will be able to help show different search engines what your site is all about. Yet you want meta tags of high quality, and you want to make sure that the content of your site is reflected from these meta tags so you can attract as many visitors as possible.
Development platforms can make your own code, but certain ones aren’t as dependable as a text editor. The idea with these platforms is to design your site’s features, and then paste in their generated code. But if you are looking for a more hands-on experience where you can control everything, including fixing the errors, then a basic text editor should be what you choose.
Use free software to set up your own site. Many people believe that expensive software is the only way to get things done, but there are multitudes of free tools available to help you get started, and keep your site running. A simple search is easy to do, and it produces a way for you to determine which free software and tools are best suited to your needs.
Now you know a few things the pros do that you can use towards website design. Begin a rough draft, and then create a list of key elements from other sites in order to blend them into yours. Be creative and enjoy yourself!