Try and write a decent “About Us” page. Some websites “About Us” pages are very dull and boring. Make it a little more exciting! Share some information about yourself, your inspiration and your web design business.
If at all possible, incorporate a way for visitors to search throughout your site for the information they are seeking. This will boost the usability of your site and give the viewer the information he wants. This feature is easy to include on your site, and the effort and time spent implementing it will provide ample rewards.
Make any logos on your website link to the home page. These days, people expect to be able to click on a logo to go to a site’s main page. A static logo can irritate your users, because that makes them hunt for a separate “Home” link. A clickable logo makes your site much easier to navigate.
Captchas are useful for preventing automated registration, but should be used sparingly. Captchas tend to irk website users, because they force your users to complete a troublesome task simply to proceed to, or view their desired webpage. Most people are likely to leave your page and go elsewhere.
Always give your readers the ability to stop whatever it is they’re doing. For example, allow users to cancel registration for newsletters or easily back out of a search. By not letting visitors cancel something that they don’t want to finish, you’re pretty much forcing them into doing something. This can harm your return visits or purchases.
Draw up plans that detail exactly how you want your webpages to look like to your visitors. Show others your design concepts and get their advice. Having an extra pair of eyes can help point out things you may have not have noticed about your design.
Carefully review the portfolios of design companies that you are considering. You should ensure this company has worked with other companies that have a good reputation, and that their work quality is great. The portfolio will tell you a lot about their expertise and experience.
For some people, their bandwidth is very low, and you need to consider this when putting videos up on your site. While it’s tempting to upload your multimedia at 5,000 kb/s, this speed may be too much for some people’s internet connections to handle. This can mean a very slow loading time for the video, which will cause it to buffer frequently.
Most people are aware of the Photoshop software and that the more knowledgeable they are in it, the better their chances are of creating good web design. Yet a lot of people aren’t familiar with Dreamweaver, and all that it has to offer for web designers, check into this program and see how it can help you.
Stay away from using Flash with your website. While Flash can make your website look futuristic and stylish, Flash will lag on slower computers, so not all of your website’s visitors will get the user experience that you want them to have. Also, many computers, especially tablet computers like the iPad, do not even have Flash capabilities. Not being able to see elements of your site might cause visitors to leave and never return.
Your preferred domain name may already be in use; look at auction sites that sell domain names to see if you can still purchase it. You will be able to buy abandoned or never used domain names that would not be for sale anywhere else.
While you want to keep the aesthetics of your site in mind, you also need to make every effort to keep your file sizes to a minimum. The size of the files making up your website is the direct cause of your site’s load times. It is always a good idea for your website to load as quickly as possible. There are still people who will be using your website that do not have a high-speed connection. Test your site to make sure that it loads up quickly, even when accessed on a dial up connection.
Your website should be prepared for international visitors. Your dates, times, measurements and currencies must be simply understood by as many as you can. Keep your mind open and think globally, so you can gain a larger audience.
A good web design tip for the newcomer to this field is look at all the tools that are available in the market. You’ll find there is a plethora of books, magazines and websites which discuss web design and it’s various facets, covering the whole gamut from HTML to good graphic design. It is a great way to learn your craft and become a better designer.
You should have people beta testing your website as you build it. Have someone test each new feature that you add. Videos that take a while to load might not irritate you, but they might bother your users. Always look to others for outside and unbiased opinions.
Learning web design gets easier when you practice often. Try some easy web pages with C+ and HTML to learn the basics. You have to begin practicing at some point, so it’s best to begin now rather than waiting until later.
Content often trumps design when it comes to building hits. Keeping pages simple and just including what you need to tell your story can help your visitors more easily understand your business. The more simple the page, the quicker it will load.
After reading this advice, it should be easy for you to start your website. Create a budget and get some help from advisers while you start planning your site. You’ll be able to create a website which fits all your needs without spending a fortune, but only if you start today!