Website Design Tips: Make It Work For You

TIP! In order for your site to bring in visitors, its navigation must be intuitive. Visitors should be able to locate clear, unambiguous links quickly and easily.

It is not that difficult to create a custom website. However with the proper tools, anyone can create a website quickly. If you can get it, you can even turn it into a career. Read on to learn just how to do this.

TIP! Your visitors should be able to see your content regardless of the browser they are using. Test your pages with different browsers to make sure it is displayed properly.

Incorporate a search function that lets visitors find what they need. If people visit your site for something specific, they will be on the lookout for a search box. If your site doesn’t have one, they will probably go to a website that does. Always place the box at the top right of the page, as this is the first place visitors tend to look for one.

TIP! You want to keep the website page size minimal. Not all website visitors have blazing connection speeds and will get frustrated and lose interest if your site takes a while to load.

Keep your topics separated. Separate topics to give each one its own page. Not only will viewers be less confused, but search engines can pick up on your site easier, which gives you a higher ranking.

TIP! Pay attention to your background. While some websites utilize moving GIF backgrounds, opt for simple background since these moving backgrounds can make text hard to read.

Consider a free software package when you are setting up your website. Costly software is also available, but you can get good results with free tools since you are the main factor in the success of your site. With a little search effort on your part, the kinds of tools you need can be found, and for free.

TIP! No matter what type of website you design or who the audience is you want to target, always keep the page load time under ten seconds. Visitors want and deserve a sleek website that slides into their browsers fast.

To work out the visual aspects of your site design, you can use a program like Photoshop to create mockups. Even without professional training, a web designer with a good grasp of Photoshop can turn out attractive, useful websites very quickly. If you try to skimp on price by using a generic program that doesn’t do a good job, you may find yourself spending much more time than necessary to finish your website.

Alt Tags

TIP! The content that appears on your site should be compelling and interesting. Although the overall look of your site is important, it is the content that keeps them coming back for more.

ALT tags are a critical part of incorporating images into your site. These tags are important because they describe the images people see when they don’t have their graphics turned on or they’re for people that can’t see and need help with getting a website read to them. If you use images as links, you can describe the link. Finally, search engine crawlers like ALT tags as they are useful. So, your search rank might improve as a result.

TIP! Even more important than a good looking website is one that loads fast, and that means all of your files should be small. This is because the speed of your website loading is directly influenced by the file sizes.

Make sure you optimize your website for older Internet Explorer versions like IE7 and IE8. Many people are still using the older versions of Internet Explorer. They don’t render pages that have to do with regular standards on the web so you have to figure out a work around. You should read up on the frustrating “box model bug” that has plagued IE for a long time.

TIP! When you make a page that has links, be sure that each link is accompanied by text content. Links with content are easier to view for your visitors and help them know exactly what they will be clicking on.

Put together a nice page about you or your organization and title it “About” or “About Us.” Most websites don’t have very interesting copy in this area. Add a little spice to this webpage! Your “About Us” page should contain information about your goals, background and inspiration.

TIP! When designing your own site, you should remember that you do not have to make use of all the available free space. Just because you have all of that space does not mean that you have to use it.

Choose your fonts carefully. You should only choose fonts that look professional and are easy to read. The most well-designed sites use professional-looking fonts. Avoid using fonts like Comic Sans and various fancy fonts that might not be on many computers. If they don’t have that font on their computer, it might be subset to their default font. This could cause it to look bad.

There are many good books which can help you learn more about website development. First, read books for the beginner and advance from there.

Website Design

TIP! Most people have heard of Photoshop and know that it’s a useful tool in web design. However, many people don’t know about Dreamweaver and its potential for designers.

Good website design hinges on the quality of your research. Learn about everything that you can in your niche. This will help you to reach your target audience. This makes your efforts in website design very efficient.

TIP! You should have a visible tagline included on not only every webpage that is in the domain, but also the sub-domains. Keywords will make your website more relevant to search engines and increase traffic to your site.

When you’re setting up your site, it’s fine to take a look at the features and designs other people are using, but you should hang onto your own creativity. You can improve upon ideas you’ve seen used on other websites, but you should also develop your own website designs. This is essential for you if you hope to be the best designer you can be.

TIP! You don’t have to design your site alone. Web design encompasses many different aspects, including programming, graphic design, content creation, optimization for search engines, and user interface design.

Design your website so that your design isn’t incredibly similar to websites offering the same product as you. To make sure this does not occur, have a look at the websites of your competitors. Remember that if your website is too similar to that of one of your competitors, you will not seem unique, and you might even accidentally send business to your competitor. You’ll just look like a generic version of these previous ones.

TIP! If you have a search text box on your website, allow at least 30 characters to be visible. Label the button next to the search box “search.

Since you just got good web page design advice, you can use it to help you practice at at a hose that offers free websites. That way you can see how easy it can be once you’ve learned the fundamentals. From that point, you can create visually appealing web sites everyone will enjoy. Follow these tips and keep learning to become an expert.