The first thing that people will notice on a website is the design. Like actual first impressions, this is the time to not deter people away because of a poor design. If you make use of the following tips, you should minimize the chances of a poor first impression.
256 Colors
When designing webpages it is important that you use the correct graphics. Bitmap images require a lot of disk space and are unwieldy. Try using PNGs for images that are not photos or text buttons or if an image has over 256 colors. Use GIFs for something with less than 256 colors. Photos require JPEG to ensure high quality.
Incorporate fixed-position navigation so the users can easily use your site. What occurs when the navigation is fixed is the panel follows the users scrolling. In other words, it moves down the page as the user moves down the page. This is convenient for the user and for Internet marketers since it lets users perform desired actions like signing up for newsletters or buying products.
You want to have a site that is easy to navigate, if you want to attract visitors. Your links need to be prominently placed, easy to understand and functional. Menus also lend to easy navigation. Make sure that you have links posted to every page of the website. This will allow visitors to easily navigate the site.
Don’t let content that is out of date linger on your website. If you have something on your site that lists an event that happened months ago, chances are you have lost some readers. Users will spend time on websites that are well-maintained, and the presence of your outdated information will tell them that your site it not being properly cared for. Put removing outdated content on your to-do list, to do every 2-4 weeks.
You can build yourself a fine website using only free software. Though expensive software is certainly available, free products can work just as well when it comes to setting up and running your site. You just have to search a little to locate the free tools that best suit you.
When you design a site, pull it up in various browsers. What you see on your side may not always be what the others see on theirs. Make sure to research the browsers available. You should also check your website from a variety of different computers to see how it looks as well.
Even more important than a good looking website is one that loads fast, and that means all of your files should be small. The size of the files making up your website is the direct cause of your site’s load times. You want your site to load instantly. Remember that not all people who visit your site will have a high-speed connection to the Internet. You want to perform a test to make sure your site performs well, even with dial-up modem connections.
Resist any temptation to use pop-up windows when you design your website. Users hate them and they won’t add you any value. When these windows pop up on the screen, you are likely to frustrate your visitors to the point that they are determined never to return.
Do not forget to test your site on several major browsers. Because different browsers render websites differently, the visitor may not have the experience you intended. You can find more about which browsers are most in use and focus on them, so hunt down this information. Check your site on every browser, and include the popular browsers on cellphones too.
You should always be on the lookout for new information from various forums that can help you learn how to start out, or gain more knowledge with web design. It is easy to do a Google search to find new ideas and information about web design.
The more time you spend working on your site, the easier website development will become. The best way to learn is by starting up your own page and begin with simple scripts in HTML or PHP and upgrading as you become comfortable. Remember that practice makes perfect and that you have to start somewhere.
Do not include a website counter; it just doesn’t look good. While you may like to see how many visitors you’ve had, most of your visitors do not want to see the counter. Get rid of it and use other tools to track your visitors.
If you are building a basic website, then a site hosts design tools are fine, but it is not something you want to completely rely on. It’s important to have your personality show through on your website, and the way to do this is by adding extra touches the host site doesn’t offer.
Does your site pass the NoScript test? Download the NoScript extension in Firefox and test it on your site to see if it is still readable. Some things, like purchase orders, will not work unless your site contains the proper scripts.
Make judicious use of graphics to give your site eye appeal. You might like images with text wrapped around them, which will keep the site from looking bland. When you have content that looks like it took time to create, people become interested in your site and come back for more.
Open Source
Designing a website can be very affordable if you do it yourself. For each costly, popular program or tool available for web design, there are equally useful programs or tools that are much cheaper. There is quite a bit of free, open source web page design software available that performs admirably when compared to nonfree alternatives. Utilizing open source software can help you save a significant amount of money.
One critical part of great web design is ease of navigation. Links should be highly visible and easy to locate. Menus can make navigation on your site easier. Make sure you have links back to your main pages accessible on every single page of your website; that way, visitors are able to always get around.
Get someone to run a test of your site to see if it functions as you progress. Have someone test each new feature that you add. A slow-loading video may not bother you, but someone else may think otherwise. Do your best to gather outside opinions.
Learn many server-side languages if you want to diversify your web design portfolio. Learning many different web platforms such as Java, MySQL and PHP will only serve to make you better going forward. It does not matter if you are designing for yourself or for your friends, you should work on becoming a multi-faceted web designer.
Since people see a website’s design as soon as they get on the site, it is important to make yours fabulous. It is important to make a good first impression. The tips that you have read has offered a lot of advice on how to design your website so that people will want to look around.
Don’t have an abundance of graphics on your site. Some images are necessary. However, too many are overwhelming. Do not use graphics simply for decorating; utilize them for true improvement. Also, including the “right” number of images makes it easier to navigate the site.