Many people think that a flashy website looks great to the eye and thus attracts more visitors, however this is only if they have fast internet connections. Like most successful sites, they keep it simple so people can easily get to the information they seek. Outlined below are some helpful tips to keep your website simple and clean.
Give some thought to the background of your website. Backgrounds with moving GIF views can be great, but can make text hard to read as well. Select a wallpaper complementary to the rest of your design, so that your users will be able to negotiate the site more easily.
Become educated on shortcuts and frequently use them. There are plenty of site design shortcuts so that you can save time. HTML codes are one shortcut that allows you to fix things on your pages without the need to re-upload them.
Try to keep current with information related to webdesign. Internet forums are a great place to visit for this information. It is easy to do a Google search to find new ideas and information about web design.
Make sure your first page is simple. Your front page can be the determining factor whether a visitor decides to stay or simply exits without seeing more. Provide simple content on what you do and how to contact you.
You never want to use too many fonts when it comes to site design. You need to consider how large the font is since some may be too small for concentrated website reading or smaller screens. Verdana is one of those popular fonts that is readable in all sizes and colors.
Internet Explorer
Creating a newsletter can help you get repeat visitors. This can be an excellent way of building your client base. Put the form for signing up in a prominent location, such as a sidebar, and use it to compile a list of visitors who opt in to your newsletter. Make sure you only send off the newsletter to people that want it, or you’re sure to find yourself in some trouble.
Make certain that your site is accessible for various incarnations of Internet Explorer. Most people do not like Internet Explorer, but others still use it. Unfortunately, many aspects of your site may not be compatible or displayed properly due to outdated rendering standards, so you may have to create some fixes for the elements that do not work properly. Read up on the so-called “box model bug” which has bothered IE users for a long time.
Be sure your website’s load times are quick and efficient. Those who visit your site have little in the way of patience so ensure your site is designed to load quickly. Try reducing how many graphics you use, as well as how much Flash and JavaScript is on your site, optimize your HTML code, make use of server caches and minimize your use of JS and CSS code.
Create a comprehensive “About Us” page. So many sites have dull, boring information on these pages. Try to give it a bit of personality. Share some information about yourself, your inspiration and your website creation business.
Make compelling and fascinating web content. The actual site design “look” is important, but content is king. You’ll have more repeat visitors when you keep your content fresh and informative.
The more you keep at it, website creation gets easier and easier. Try some easy web pages with C+ and HTML to learn the basics. By avoiding procrastination, you can begin to learn the basic elements quickly.
Don’t ever place pop-ups on websites. Including PPC ads to make some money on sites is a big design element that does not irritate your users as much as pop-ups that bother their view. People won’t want to visit your website again. Make sure you do not put up anything too annoying to others.
Adobe Dreamweaver is a great program to try if you need to create a website. Even if you are a beginner, you can easily use this program. 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.
If you want your site to become more visible to online users, you must learn to use proper meta tags for each page. You need to spend some time on creating high quality meta tags so that search engines can classify your site properly. If you use poorly constructed meta tags that don’t reflect your content accurately, you won’t get much traffic.
To familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of designing a website, work with a basic layout first. Starting simple will allow you to add more advanced techniques as you expand your site, giving you a chance to learn each one by one.
Remember, you don’t have to break the bank to design a website. Every costly design application has a similar program that does the same job for much less. For example, you can use free open-source software instead of paid software. Using these free tools can save you a stack of cash!
Always avoid captchas unless you are using them for user registration. Captchas tend to irk website users, because they force your users to complete a troublesome task simply to proceed to, or view their desired webpage. Unless your viewer is already a regular at your site, they will probably leave and go somewhere else.
Always make sure navigation is clear and easy. Where you locate your website’s navigation links can make a huge difference in the amount of time a visitor will spend on your site. Navigation must be simple and clear to better the user experience.
If you keep learning as you are designing a website, that will be a benefit to you. When you have mastered one aspect of web page design, start with another. It may take a longer time to build a functioning site, but you will know enough to create dozens of websites when you finally learn what you need to know.
One reason to keep up with your website, is to check for negative comments or spam. This is imperative for forum and blog administrators. A website must be continually cleaned up.
Error Pages
When designing your website, create independent CSS pages for the web browsers and use conditional loading. This technique will make testing and maintenance easier. Every website needs some maintenance eventually, so you need things to be as easy as possible to make the necessary changes.
Create error pages that are informative. It usually happens when there are broken links or links that have been moved, then you receive a strange looking error page. Design error pages that show the reason the visitor has received it, including a link back to your homepage so they stay on your site.
There are many things to consider when designing a website. Remember to keep things clean and simple; that’s always the way to make a good looking website. Using these tips will help you better your site immediately.