Whether it’s the first time you have created a website or you are a seasoned pro, always remember that a very important aspect is the design. Creating a site that is pleasing to the eye, user friendly, and has relevant content will more than likely cause your visitors to return. For some tips on website design to help you create beautiful and effective site, consider the tips below.
Use fixed-position navigation. This means you need to lock the site’s panel for navigation in a place that scrolls while the visitor does. Not only is this convenient for your visitor, but it can also help internet marketers by facilitating any action for visitors (e.g purchase a product, subscribe to a newsletter).
One of the biggest mistakes a newbie designer makes is not verifying how a site looks in several different browsers. This is because your website may look a certain way to you in your browser, but will look very different in another browser. Research all the commonly used browsers and design accordingly. It’s also a good idea to test out your website on different operating systems.
Create Clutter
Do not overdo the graphics on your site. While graphics are important to give your website a professional, cohesive and well-designed look, using too many of them can create clutter. Graphics should improve your site, not just pretty it up. Having the appropriate number of graphics that do not create clutter improves the usability of your website, too.
You can create a site using free software. Many people believe that expensive software is the only way to get things done, but there are multitudes of free tools available to help you get started, and keep your site running. Finding good free software does require a bit more legwork, however.
Search Engines
Do not use frames on your website. Frames are not optimized for most search engines. Although some users like frames, information inside the frame will not show up when searched. If the search engines can’t view this important information, then you’re not going to fare well in the search engine rankings. This can hinder any new visitors.
Make sure your site navigation is simple, well-maintained, and transparent. Where you locate your website’s navigation links can make a huge difference in the amount of time a visitor will spend on your site. Your users must find the navigation of the website simple and consistent.
Make sure that the font you are using looks professional, and is easy to read. The most well-designed sites use professional-looking fonts. Do not employ exotic fonts that will be absent from many visitors’ computers or over-used fonts such as Comic Sans. A font could be subset to a default font in the computer of your user, if they do not have it. Your site can look bad when this happens.
You don’t have to use every inch of space when you design a website. Cluttering every pixel with design elements, will make your site confusing and hard to navigate. Dividing up your site’s elements with blank space, can make it easier for visitors to distinguish what elements perform what function. Sometimes, empty space is just as vital as actual content.
Begin by making smaller websites, so you can see your strengths and weaknesses before starting a major site. Besides keeping them small, your initial efforts should also be simple. Avoid complex multimedia and advanced structures to begin with, and stick with basic pages of text and pictures.
Your website should begin with a relatively small amount of content on each page. Adding too much stuff early on will create confusion for you and your visitors alike. Keep it simple to start.
Have a visible tagline on every page and sub-domain. The text needs to be obvious and placed conspicuously on every page. The purpose of the tagline is so that they know what that page is about. This way the viewer can quickly decide whether to stay or move back to the previous page.
It is important not to force people around your website. This means to avoid splashing offers or surveys in front of them that won’t let the continue until they interact with it. 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.
Create ongoing relationships with visitors to your site by employing the techniques you find here. If you can do this, your profits will go up quickly.