Web Design For Dummies: Quick Tips And Tricks
Web design companies out there are making millions by doing things that you could easily do yourself with the right information. Don’t fall victim to these semi-scams; learn webdesign so that you can be the one in charge of your website.
Start by reading these tips below to get a handle on design.Include pictures of your office space and workforce, instead of using stock photos all over your site. The more your visitors feel that they know who they are giving business to, the more likely they are to choose you over your competitors. This design tip can do more than you would think to boost your business.
Web Design For Dummies: Quick Tips And Tricks
When tinkering with your HTML, you always need to save a copy. You can save a copy of your code in a Notepad doc; just save it as .html and it will save as an actual webpage. This way, you can tinker around with things and know that there’s a backup should something go wrong. Failure to save pages may result in having to start from scratch.
Choose your web host carefully. Some hosts require you to link to them, while others may force you to install their pop-ups. You should also test their performance using one of the many tools available for free online, as you do not want to host with someone who is consistently slow or crashing.
Creating a visual site map for your website is important. Knowing what you’ll have on each page allows you to prepare ahead of time and to know what direction your site will take.
Watch the amount of flashy multimedia that is on your site. Don’t overdo it with a bunch of “extras”. Flash graphics and multimedia may appear enticing, but these may make it difficult for visitors to find the desired information from the site, particularly if they’re viewing your site from a non-Flash compatible device.
Be sure to check around for people that can assist you with learning programs such as dreamweaver and photoshop. You can learn a lot through the internet but nothing beats hands on training from someone who is experienced with these programs, so talk to a friend and see what they can teach you.
A great tip for all web designers is to reserve the “m” subdomain name for your website. This is key if you ever plan on creating a special site strictly for mobile use and with all the smartphone out there, this is not only a good idea, it is a necessity.
Use a tracking service, rather than displaying your visitor counter for all to read. Many websites still display their counters, yet they do not serve any real purpose. There are many high quality tracking services available, and some are even free. Use these instead of showing off how many people visit you.
Add a search feature to a website. When visitors come to your website, they want to easily be able to find what they are looking for. A keyword search feature will make it easy for people to find the right page on your site, especially if the website you are designing is very complex.
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.
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.
When designing a website with a lot of text, choose your fonts wisely. While serif text will work well for a title or headline, the body of the text should be in a serif font, which is easier to read on a computer screen. Try to use common computer fonts such as Times New Roman and Ariel.
Never force the viewer on a path of your choosing or break them away from their current workflow. This means not pushing surveys or offers into their window that they must complete before they continue. By removing a viewer’s options and forcing them to do as you please, you are likely losing their service and creating a bad review for your domain.
Use good software to help you with each aspect of designing your site. Software does not need to be expensive, or cost anything at all, for that matter. Check out the variety of free, open-source software available to you, including GIMP, Audacity, Skype, FoxItReader, and more. The quality of your pages will benefit from all the tools at your finger tips.
Organize your website architecture before beginning your design. Think of your web design like building a house, you need a blueprint to be effective and efficient with your time. Before any design begins, build a wire frame or site map of how your site will flow. You’ll find that your sites become much more innovative in terms of relating pages with this simple step.
When designing your website, it is a good idea not to stray too far from popular conventions. For example, most users expect that when they click on the website logo at the top of a webpage, they will be taken to the home page of the website. If your website behaves differently, it can confuse the user. In many cases, straying from such conventions can lead to a poor overall user experience.
Now that you have digested this great information, hopefully you have discovered something new about web design. This is just one article out of many possible ones, but the importance of web design has hopefully been stressed adequately in this one.
There is quite a bit of information that deals with web design and you need to get a good balance of knowledge to succeed.
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