
Do you spend a lot of time online? Do you want to make a presence there? If you are thinking about how to design a website that will engage your users, this is an excellent article for you.
The graphics you use are important. Remember, bitmap images can get quite large and often don’t work very well while PNG images work fine. Use PNGs for images over 256 colors for text buttons and the like or use GIF files for images smaller than 256 colors. JPEG images are good for pictures.
On the Internet today, speed is where it’s at. So you must make sure everything on your site loads fast. If Internet users have to wait a long time for your website to load, they will probably leave your site before it loads and vow never to return.
Include search elements that let visitors search site content. If those visiting your site are looking for something specific, the first thing they will look for is a search box. If you lack one, they may just move on to another website immediately. Place it near the page’s top right corner since this is one of the first places people usually look for them.
Don’t have an abundance of 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. Your site will be easier to navigate too if you keep the graphic clutter to a minimum.
Build a feedback-gathering mechanism into a website to gather visitors’ opinions. When you have this area, your visitors can let you know if something needs fixed or if they aren’t sure how use some of the site’s functions. If your visitors feel like they are a part of your site, they will want to return.
Whatever your design is like aesthetically, be sure all your files are small. This is because the size of your website’s files directly affects its loading time. You should strive to make sure that your website loads as fast as it possibly can. The other factor to bear in mind is not all visitors access through high-speed connections. You want to perform a test to make sure your site performs well, even with dial-up modem connections.
To create a better-optimized site, avoid using frames. Although users like pages that include frames, the information inside does not show up in search engines. This will preclude you from having a positive ranking. When this happens, you won;t get a lot of visitors.
Consider visitors when constructing your site. The focus of the end user should always be at the forefront of the designer’s mind. Think about how a user will find information and navigate your site. You should consider these issues as you go about your work. See things from the perspective of your visitor.
Like so many skills, website development can be improved through patient, consistent practice. Try some easy web pages with C+ and HTML to learn the basics. It’s never too late to start practicing, so start today.
Usability tests that are task based are a good way to figure out what design works best for your website. The tasks search for functionality and information hidden within your site. Users should not have any trouble completing the task if the site is designed well. If a website isn’t designed well, then the testers can point you towards what to improve.
When coming up with content, remember that you users are bound to have different literacy levels. They have not all graduated from college or even high school, for example. In order to grow your audience, you should write content that spans the masses.
Just because you’ve launched your site doesn’t mean the design process is finished. Be prepared to keep busy with your site. You don’t have to constantly update it, but you must do regular updates. If you present current events or host videos, this is definitely a must. Remember, website updating is much different than blog updating. You will have to put work into it.
As you have seen, designing a high quality web page does not have to be as difficult as you may fear. After you learn how to develop a website, you can begin building sites for others. Keep this article handy to refer back to from time to time.