Web Design is vital for your online success and you want an outstanding website. Does that mean you need to invest in pricey software packages, and use complex templates? Well, that all depends on how much you’re willing to learn. You might need powerful software or outside consultants to build a strong website if you’re unwilling or unable to learn. But can you do some work instead? So, this advice can save you money and give you an amazing website.
It is always good to add a favicon to your website. The favicon is a 16×16 image file in the .Ico format. This image is the one you see next to the URL bar, next to the title of the page on an opened tab and is also visible on your bookmarks tab if you choose to bookmark a page. The favicon will help users quickly recognize your page in their browser without reading any text or directly viewing the page.
Keep your page sizes to a minimum.
Not all internet users have fast connection speeds, and the longer your site takes to load, the less interest they will have. You do not want your page viewers to be stuck waiting for every page to download, or they may end up abandoning your site.
Keep your pages to a reasonable length. Add content through new pages on your site, instead of tacking it on to the end of a home page. For the most part, readers are hesitant to keep going on a page that seems to scroll on forever. If you must have a lot of content on one page, include hyperlinks at the top and in sections throughout the page. This allows users to navigate through the available content without excessive scrolling.
Make sure that you use the right anchor text. The anchor text of a link should clearly describe what the visitor should expect to see when he clicks on the link. For instance, if a link leads to your widget ordering page, the anchor text might read “Order widgets.” Specifically avoid using “click here” as anchor text.
Have a site map. These are useful to your clients and the search engines, as they give a detailed overview of your entire website. It can be a guide for viewers searching for a certain part of your site, and also allow you to keep track of its structure and layout.
If you want your site visitors to spend as much time as possible on your site, make text easy to read. One of the most common design mistakes is using graphic backgrounds with patterns or dark colors; combine this with equally dark text and you have a recipe for disaster. Unless the text is clear and easy to read, your site will not be a success.
You should always put in the effort to make a customized error page for your site; this page should include a basic sitemap that links users to the major sections of your website. This ensures that if visitors follow a bad link or spell your URL wrong, they will be able to find what they are looking for.
Know your subject. If you plan on using your site for a blog or similar endeavor, you should be sure to do thorough research on the subject before you post. Giving your customers unclear or false information will only cause you to lose readers. Understanding your subject is the key to a good blog.
Do not use images for your background. When you think about some of the biggest websites on the Internet, they do not have images as backgrounds. When you use image backgrounds, you represent yourself as someone who is not well-versed in web designing. Images as backgrounds also cause your site to load slower, which can lead to user frustration.
Optimize load times on your website. If visitors must wait a long time for something to load, they will want to leave the site. Try reducing your number of graphics, Flash, and script on your pages, optimizing your HTML, using SSI files, using client and server caching, creating expire headings, and minimizing your JS and CSS coding.
When designing your website, create independent CSS pages for the web browsers and use conditional loading. Using these techniques makes it much easier for testing and ensuing maintenance later on. All websites need to be maintained at some point, and you want it to be as simple as possible so you can easily make changes.
A lot of times when you load up a page to your file server, you cannot find it when you type in the address via your browser. You always need to double-check and ensure that you named the file correctly. Some people literally waste days trying to pinpoint the problem they believe is major, when in reality it’s only a simple typo.
You can utilize a development platform that provides you with the code for your website; however, the code generated is often not as dependable as code written yourself via text editor. The goal of a platform is to design the features you want in a site, then you simply paste the code that was generated into your own site. But if you are looking for a more hands-on experience where you can control everything, including fixing the errors, then a basic text editor should be what you choose.
Consider subscribing to newsletters about web design.
Newsletters are great to have for both novices and pros alike. You can learn a lots about Web Design just online following some of the experts from the industry, and there are many good YouTube channel that you can find in order to improve your Web Design skill.
Remember to design informative error pages.
Many times someone will click onto a broken link, or a link that has been moved, and receive a generic error page that confuses them. Design your error pages so that you give a visitor a reason they may have gotten that error, along with a link to your home page so that they remain on your site.
While learning to design your website is important, it’s not as complicated as learning the basics of open heart surgery. You do not need to have classes, and you are not accountable for anyone’s life. Follow these tips to start creating great websites and don’t worry if you need support you are always welcome to contact us for help.
