Is web design something that you will want to use as a tool to make a lot of profits in the future? If you answered yes then it really pays to educate yourself on everything about web design, and the following article has many good tips to get you started.
Unless your website can be viewed on a variety of browsers, it is unlikely to produce the desired results. Ensure that the site can be easily navigated on the most popular browsers. If something works in Chrome it might not work in Firefox, for example. Test every page in each browser before you let your site go live.
Keep personal information handy in the event that it must be re-entered by a repeat visitor of your website. For instance, if a person registers on your site and a portion of the same exact information is required for filling another form out, ensure that the information they’ve already put in is saved so that he or she doesn’t have to put in this information again. Creating information that is “sticky” simplifies the entire process, and visitors are certain to appreciate all the time that they have saved.
Do not use pop-ups on your site. Viewers hate pop-ups; they are annoying and unprofessional. Many people will leave a site that has pop-ups, even the big sites. Show some appreciation and respect for your customers, by avoiding annoying pop-ups. Is your host making you use pop-ups? Time for a new host.
Test your website in the most popular browsers and platforms to make sure that it displays correctly. Sometimes scripts that work in one browser may not produce the same results in another browser. So you may need take extra measures, like adding a function for browser detection, in order to ensure that your website will display properly under most conditions.
To help your website visitors easily navigate through your site, design it so that it becomes easy to find “stuff.” When you have a simple site that makes it easy to locate information, you keep your visitors there much longer. If you make it difficult for them, then they will get frustrated and leave.
If you have never designed a web page, try using pre-made layouts. These can easily be found online for several blogging web sites like Blogspot or Tumblr. Having an interesting layout will draw attention to content and give the site a professional look. Just make sure your layout is appealing to your target audience!
The best web sites communicate a lot of information in a small amount of words. If you are long-winded, people will easily get bored and find another site that is more concise. Make sure any content is relevant and easy to understand – newspapers use an eighth grade reading level, which is the most common literacy level.
Provide a navigation menu on every page of your site. While this menu does not have to link every single page of your site, as this could be an exhaustive list if you have a very large site, it should provide links to the main pages. This ensures that your visitors do not have to return to the home page and start completely over when it is not necessary.
It is imperative that all of your webpages have titles. Forgetting to include titles while designing your website can have disastrous consequences. The biggest reason is that it makes your website look unprofessional when there is no title, both on the webpage itself, and also on a search results page. Search engines also place heavy emphasis on titles when determining the content of your website. Remember to utilize keywords, and make your titles descriptive.
You should now have a great start on the basics of website design and feel a little less confused by it. You are now better informed about web design and can see just how much more there is to learn.
