A good webpage can be piece of art when the designer is skilled. A good design can make the difference between a successful website and an unpopular one. Knowing what it takes to create a great website is the only way to achieve that goal. Try expanding your own knowledge of website creation, by using the tips that are listed below.
Make sure your website passes a test by NoScript. Download this extension in Firefox and see how your site looks. There are some elements (e.g. ordering products) that will not work if there is no script. For this reason, if your website is blank and has no scripts, it will not work.
Don’t rely on JavaScript too much. It provides many ways to develop an interactive experience for your audience, but it can also stop some visitors from accessing your content at all. There are many different web browsers that people use and they are constantly being updated with new features. They might not have the latest edition of the browser. Also, consider that JavaScript isn’t regularly enabled in everyone’s browser. Both of these mean users will be prevented from using the site you made.
Do not use any type of pop-ups. Customers are turned off by the constant advertising pop-up ads represent. They’ll be much more likely to leave your site out of annoyance if they are confronted with pop-ups. Stay away from those irritating ads and your visitors will be pleased. Any host which requires you to have pop-up ads is a host you don’t want to use!
Regardless of how the design of your website is created aesthetically, be sure to make all of your files small. Your website’s loading time is directly affected by the file sizes you have on your site. You always want your site to load as quickly as it can. Remember that some of your visitors are going to be using slower Internet connections than others. Check your site, and make sure that it can load quickly even with a slow dial-up internet connection.
Avoid having pop-up windows on your website. Although they may serve some function for your site, the average reader views them as a major irritant. Every pop-up window you throw in front of your website visitors increases the likelihood that they will abandon your website in frustration. Once they leave, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be coming back.
You must be sure that your site is optimized properly so that it can be viewed in all browsers. Many people are still using the older versions of Internet Explorer. You will have to use workarounds when dealing with this issue, so keep that in mind. Specifically, read about the “box model bug” that plagued IE for years.
Meta Tags
If you want your site to become more visible to online users, you must learn to use proper meta tags for each page. Properly used meta tags make it easier for search engines to classify your site correctly. If you use poor meta tags, or worse, don’t use them at all, your site will get fewer visitors overall.
Whatever file types you use for the graphics on your site go hand-in-hand with file size. This plays a major role in how fast your site loads. Your best choice for graphic files are GIFs and JPEGs. While BMP and PNG files might be better for creating web graphics, these file types tend to use significantly more disk space. Keep your graphics at a reasonable size to save space.
You need to make sure the links on your site actually show content. This content tells the visitor what the link is. If there are links on your page without text content, they could accidentally click the link through a keyboard shortcut.
Make sure your site loads quickly. When a visitor must wait lengthy periods of time to see information, he or she will probably give up. Try reducing Flasha and the number of graphics, implementing SSI files, optimizing pages, making expire headings, reducing CSS and JS codes and using server and client caching.
You should always be practicing with the techniques you learn in order to become more effective and creative in your build endeavors. Easy application of the information you are learning will help you manifest your website development ideas. Continue practicing different elements of design and you’ll soon be a master.
Build small sites at first, analyze what worked and what didn’t. Try starting with a couple basic pages that just have text in order to see how you do.
When you first begin designing a web page you should choose a design layout that’s as simple as possible. This allows you to build your skills slowly and avoid problems you might encounter with more complicated features. You should start with the basics, then advance to the more complex functions as you improve your skills and get more experience with the entire process of web designing.
Competency with multiple platforms will come in handy if you intend to set up multiple websites. Learning PHP and MySQL skills, as well as Java and other platforms, will help you out in the future. It does not matter if you are designing for yourself or for your friends, you should work on becoming a multi-faceted web designer.
Leaving white space for your users is a well-reviewed element of design. White space on your site actually improves the readability; your visitors will have a much easier time reading and absorbing the information if things aren’t cluttered.
Don’t utilize Flash players on your website. While Flash can look very high-tech and exciting, on some devices it will cause everything to slow down. Furthermore, some mobile phones and tablet computers do not even support flash, so many users will not even be able to access your website.
Unique, interesting, and professional web page design can really shape a website into something that is great. It’s easy to distinguish good from bad in website creation, but getting from good to better — or best — takes more subtle touches. Keep the above tips in mind to design a successful website.