Are you interested in becoming a skilled website designer? Do you know what your goals are, but have no idea how you’re going to achieve them? If so, read the article below for some helpful advice on website development, and how you can use it to build a great website.
Choosing the right graphics can either make or break a website. Bitmap images usually are big and don’t work as well as PNGs. GIFs can be quite good for simple text buttons, screenshots, etc and PNGs are great for images with 256 colors and up. For photographs, opt for JPEGs.
A tagline should be shown in full view on your website. Taglines are catchy mottos that explain your business. Using a clear tagline is important because when someone visits your page, you have roughly eight seconds to capture their attention and entice them to explore the rest of your site.
People don’t like to wait when they browse the Internet, so your pages need to load fast even on slow connections. If someone visiting your site has to wait a while in order for a page to load, it’s likely they will click off your site and leave. They probably won’t return.
In the 1990s, many designers used frames when creating their websites. Don’t do that. Once frames were popular, but there were a lot of issues with them too. Designs on frames can make it hard for people to get your site bookmarked and they won’t like scrolling either. There are many better alternatives to frames.
A site that is going to be successful must work with all browsers. This is why it is vital that you test all your pages to ensure that they properly display in all the various browsers. A page that works well in Firefox may display improperly in Safari, Internet Explorer or Chrome. Go through every page with each browser and correct mistakes for a user-friendly website.
Include search elements that let visitors search site content. A simple tool such as a search box lets the visitor easily a specific piece of information on your site. When one is not available, chances are they will move to a site that is searchable. Most people look for search forms in the top right so that’s where you should put it.
Always look for broken links prior to publishing pages on the web. Nothing is more frustrating to a visitor than clicking on a link and being taken to an error page. You can do this manually or run a software program if you like.
Page size must be kept small. Not everyone who uses the Internet enjoys speedy connections, so they are likely to lose interest if your site takes a long time to load. If it takes too long many will just leave and visit a different website.
Check for broken links before publishing your web page. People will become frustrated if they a link leads them to a broken page. You can check your links manually, or there are programs that will scan your site for you and report any broken links.
Keep your content interesting and entertaining. Good content is really more important than flashy design. When your content is useful and provides valuable information that meets your visitor’s needs, those visitors will return again and again.
Make user cancellations easy. An action can be classified as completing a form or registering to receive content, like a newsletter. If visitors cannot cancel an action they are not interested in, such as providing their contact information, they will feel they do not have a choice and won’t buy anything.
Alt Tags
Placing ALT tags when using images on the site is important. These tags are important for your website and people that disable graphics. When links are used for images, having an ALT tag lets you describe the link’s behavior. Also, search engine crawlers use ALT tags, so your site is going to rank higher.
Make sure your site loads quickly. Most visitors will leave if it takes a long time to load your website. Do your best to reduce graphics, scripts, and Flash.
It doesn’t matter nearly as much as what your website looks like as much as it matters that the files listed are on the smaller side. Your website’s loading time is directly affected by the file sizes you have on your site. It is always better to have your website load as fast as possible. Remember that not all people who visit your site will have a high-speed connection to the Internet. Your website should be tested on all connections, even a dial-up connection, to make sure it loads quickly.
Now that you gained some more knowledge on website design are you feeling a little more confident on this subject? Otherwise, you may wish to revisit this article later, or perhaps to seek additional resources to help clarify any misunderstandings.