You may be unaware of the many steps necessary to create an excellent website. A website needs to be planned out fully from beginning to end, and it can be overwhelming if you don’t take the time to learn a little about what’s necessary. Read the following tips to glean a great understanding on how to build a great site.
Include search elements that let visitors search site content. When a visitor wants to find something specifically, they will immediately look for the search tool. If you don’t have a search box, they’ll just go to the next site. Place it near the page’s top right corner since this is one of the first places people usually look for them.
It is important that your website is easy to read. Most visitors won’t actually read everything you write and will skim for what they want. Use sub-headers to break text into sections your readers will appreciate. It is also important that the key information is at the top of each page. Your users will appreciate it, because it helps them know if your site has what they are looking for.
If users want to, let them cancel an action. An action may refer to signing up for e-mail notifications, newsletter subscriptions or filling out web forms. If your visitors feel forced into completing something they no longer want, it may leave a bad taste. They will probably avoid visiting your site in the future.
Retain user information so that people don’t have to waste valuable time re-typing information into forms. For example, if someone registers for your site, and some of the same information is needed to fill out another form, make sure data that they have already entered is preserved, so users do not need to re-enter this information. Your clients will thank you for saving them the time it takes to fill in information that they have previously done on your site.
Use a newsletter to gain repeat visitors. Allowing your customers to sign up for updates or important events can have them coming back for more. Offer the signup form as a link off to the side on your site. Make sure you have a way to keep track of who signed up. Make sure you only send out the letter to those that have explicitly requested to view it.
When designing your website, you should avoid using too many different types of fonts. Learn how to use generic fonts to make your site look more uniform. Verdana is used by most sites. It is easy to read in various sizes and colors.
Learn web design shortcuts and make good use of them. Most web design techniques have shortcuts you can use. There are some codes in HTML that allow for faster changes to each page than re-uploading each one.
File Sizes
While you want to keep the aesthetics of your site in mind, you also need to make every effort to keep your file sizes to a minimum. There is a direct correlation between file sizes and page load times. You want your site to load as quickly as it can. You should remember also that some visitors may not use an Internet connection that is high speed. Test to be sure that even computers with slow dial-up modems can connect quickly to your website.
As you add images, use ALT tags. These tags are important for your website and people that disable graphics. If you have images that are links, your ALT tags will tell people how the link will behave. Finally, ALT tags are used by search engine crawlers; therefore, using them can help boost your search rank.
To help you design a nice looking website, purchase one of the many web design programs that are on the market today. These are easily used and can get you building sharp sites quite quickly. An unattractive website will not attract visitors.
Design tools included in a hosting package are adequate if you just want to build a simple website, buy you should not depend on these completely. Your site should reflect you and your personality, so you want to make sure it’s not too generic.
How effective is your site’s design? Try a task-based usability test. The point of using tools like these would be to discover some issue that is hidden deep within the depths of your site. If the website is designed well, users should be able to easily find what they want. If the user has trouble, it can provide you with valuable insight into areas where you can improve.
Do you feel more comfortable now? Once you begin to learn the different tactics available, you will start to understand the core concepts involved with web design and start translating this knowledge into features on your website. Check out more articles and learn all you can.
Do not work with pop-ups. This is one of those most hated marketing tactics on the web! It is not unusual for some people to refuse to stay on a website, and not return either, if it contains pop-up ads. Avoid using these irritating ads to keep your visitors happy. If you have a host where pop-ups are mandatory, then perhaps you should be out looking for a new one.