Flashy websites look nice, but they can be slow to load. Keep your site simple for more success. The tips below will make your site the best it can be.
When you are designing a website, it is important to have proper spelling and grammar. In addition to running spell-check on your content, ask a friend or co-worker to proofread everything. Having good spelling and grammar on your website will help give it a professional feel and your visitor will be more likely to return.
Make sure all of your webpages actually have titles, and make sure they are descriptive. A surprising number of webpages out there are called “untitled document” or “new document”. This not only denies visitors a useful piece of information to remember your site, but also absolutely destroys your SEO, since search engines weight page titles heavily when ranking sites.
A good website should be compatible with multiple browsers, so you should test your website in various browsers to ensure that any visitor can view it correctly. Your content may show up fine in Internet Explorer, but it may be unreadable or badly displayed in Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Prior to going live with your website, see how your pages look on every popular browser.
Don’t have an abundance of graphics on your site. They are good for making your site more professional, but too much looks messy. Graphics should be used to improve the site, not overdecorate it. The right number of graphics improves look and functionality without crowding the page.
Always look for broken links prior to publishing pages on the web. When a visitor clicks on one, they’ll be frustrated. You can do this manually or run a software program if you like.
Use shortcuts as often as you can. There are plenty of site design shortcuts so that you can save time. It is even possible to find HTML codes that permit you to implement quick changes on pages without the need to upload them again.
If you desire feedback from your visitors, design your site to include a feedback form rather than a guestbook. A feedback form lets your site visitors contact you without having anything negative be shown to everyone else who sees your site. If you have a guestbook then everyone can read both good and bad comments, something you really do not want people to see, especially when the comments are negative.
Organize your links and avoid putting too many links in one area of your site. Doing this can confuse visitors and make them leave your site. If you do have many low- to mid-importance links, emulate the “blogrolls” seen in many blogs and tuck them away in a column on the right side of the page.
To help make sure your website works as you are designing it, test it one of the browsers like Internet Explorer. When you test the website as you go along building it, you can quickly correct any problems that might show up once you live. When your website goes live you want your visitors to be able to see everything working correctly.
The more you keep at it, web design gets easier and easier. Start with some simple pages using C+ and HTML to make sure that you have the fundamentals down pat. Practice, as they say, makes perfect!
Flash is great, but takes ages to load. Remember to keep things clean and simple; that’s always the way to make a good looking website. Use the tips you learned here to create a great website that won’t distract your viewers.
